FINAL DAYS - EVERYTHING MUST GO

Install It 3 runs only two more days. See it May 23 and 24 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Thanks to everyone.

Take a tour of the tunnel – and the art Thursday evening

You can get an inside and underneath view of the exhibition with of Install It 3 – above and below with a free tour at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 16.

The installation art exhibition, on view through May 24, is located in the Vista Greenway/former train tunnel at the intersection of Lincoln and Lady streets. Artists Michaela Pilar Brown, Bri Kinard, Amanda Ladymon, Kara Gunter, Wendell George Brown and Kimberly Bookman have created works which respond to the history of Washington Street, a once-thriving African-American commercial and social district under which the tunnel runs, and the 50^th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement. The artists have created works that include photography, wax, plaster, paper, earth and grass.

The tour will be given by exhibition curator Jeffrey Day, several of the participating artists, historian Ramon Jackson and community members.

The exhibition, sponsored by the Congaree Vista Guild and part of the annual art event Artista Vista, is open daily from dawn to dark.

Install It 3 - above and below explores hidden history of city

Welcome to the third year of Install It, the installation art component of Artista Vista. 
This year six artists have creating works located in and around the former train tunnel, now part of the Vista Greenway.  
The artists Michaela Pilar Brown, Amanda Ladymon, Bri Kinard, Kara Gunter, Wendell George Brown and Kimberly Bookman were asked to respond to Washington Street which was once a major a business and social street for the African-American community, home to the Zion Baptist Church, an African-American state fair, restaurants, funeral homes, a theater and the Richard Samuel Roberts photography studio and the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement.

The tunnel runs directly beneath Washington Street and serves as an apt metaphor for the hidden history of the street above.

The artist did not make directly didactic pieces, but  explores ideas of overcoming challenges, breaking free of social and political confinement, how we are all connected and the ways we are connected. They worked in a variety of mediums: photography, plaster casting, natural materials, ceramics and even grass and tar and each piece was created specifically for this exhibition and space.
The tunnel is just north of the intersection of Lincoln and Lady streets and is open dawn to dark through May 24.  

Some more recent activity in the tunnel

 Install it curator Jeffrey Day and artist Michaela Pilar Brown gave a tour of the exhibition to representative of Our Story Matter-The 1963 project charged with commemorating the Civil Rights Movement in Columbia. At right Day with Our Story Matters team member Dr. Bobby Donaldson, an Associate Professor of History at USC.

The Mayor's Famously Hot Bike Ride made a stop at the Vista Greenway to hear about Install It 3. That's Mayor Steve Benjamin with the fancy helmet.