Install It – the installation art component of Artist
Vista – will be back for 2013.
The 2013 exhibition taps into the history of the
Washington Street area which was once a major a business and social street for
the African-American community. The street was and is the home of many
important places such as the Zion Baptist Church, an African-American state
fair and the Richard Samuel Roberts photography studio. The exhibition will
also tie into the Columbia 63 which is celebrating important milestones in the
Civil Rights Movement as well as Mayor Steve Benjamin’s Famously Hot Bicycle
Ride.
Most of the artworks will be installed in and around the
former train tunnel that is now part of the Vista Greenway. The tunnel runs
directly beneath Washington Street and serves as an apt metaphor for the hidden
history of the street above.
Artists taking part are Michaela Pilar Brown, Amanda
Ladymon, Bri Kinard, Kara Gunter and Wendell George Brown and Kimberly Bookman.
The exhibition will be on display until MAY 24
The exhibition that enlists Columbia artists to create non-traditional
works for unusual locations was started in 2011 and continued in 2012.
Installation art was an important part of Artista Vista when it was founded 22
years ago in the emerging arts district, but as the area rapidly redeveloped these
art projects took a long hiatus.
Installation art exhibitions were restarted by the
Congaree Vista Guild in 2011 as part of the 20th anniversary Artista
Vista and dubbed Install It. Jeffrey
Day, a long-time arts writer in Columbia, curated the 2011 and 2012 exhibitions
and will also be putting together the 2013 exhibition.
The 2013 exhibition will also be outdoors where it can be
seen by the greatest number of people and will be on display until May 24.
