Palette & Palate Stroll
Meandering through the French Quarter last Friday for the Charleston Fine Art Dealers Association’s (CFADA) second annual Palette and Palate Stroll, a fundraiser for the group’s visual arts scholarship fund, was a delightful way to spend a midsummer’s eve. Last year’s event raised more than $12,000, and this year’s was a sold-out success.
Hosted by 14 member galleries that affirm Charleston’s position as a destination for fine art, guests were treated to a dazzling array of mediums paired with an equally tantalizing range of hors d’oeuvres that had been provided by some of the area’s top chefs.
As I walked through the door of the Sylvan Gallery, first stop of the night, I was enveloped in the fragrant aroma of curry. Combined with the vibrantly colored broad brushstrokes of nearby canvases, I was transported out of hot, humid Charleston and delivered somewhere distinctively more exotic. Chef Ciaran Duffy (Tristan) had a set up a live cook station toward the rear of the gallery, and guests snapped up plates of seared-to-order scallops just as fast as he could cook them.
A handful of ladies in pretty dresses populated the urbane Ann Long Fine Art, where the prosciutto wrapped sushi was the nosh of choice.
I bumped into artist Karen Olah, whose work is represented by the Corrigan Gallery, on the sidewalk outside the Queen Street spot. She was taking a momentary breather from the crush of people inside, and it gave me a much welcome chance to say hello. Like Jill Hooper (whose work appears at Ann Long Fine Art), Karen is another young woman who is making her mark on the art world. Brava!
From there, it was a short walk down to the bustling corner of State and Queen—location of the Smith-Killian Gallery— where a tray of tempting desserts from Oak magically appeared on the windowsill as I was talking with Betty Anglin Smith and her two wonderfully talented daughters, Shannon and Jennifer.
The night wound down with a stroll down Broad Street during sunset and a final stop off at the Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art Gallery to say a quick hello Susan Mayfield, whose work debuted at the gallery that night. Chef Bob Waggoner (Charleston Grill) was packing up and heading home as we reached the gallery, but he paused long enough to receive hugs and handshakes of gratitude for his effort to make last week’s Dine for the Charleston Nine such an astounding success. Inside, those hugs and handshakes were repeated for Mr. Mickey Bakst, mastermind of the fire fighter’s benefit. From a dinner to honor fallen heroes one week to a lovely art stroll the next, life in Charleston is definitely vibrant.
