Beaufort’s Tradition of Culture and the Arts

story by CAROL LAUVRAY
photos for Beaufort’s Cultural District by SUSAN DELOACH
photos for Taste of Beaufort by SK SIGNS, DESIGNS & MARKETING

Beaufort’s coastal beauty, small town charm and rich history make it a popular tourist destination and one of the South’s best places to live. The city also has become a thriving cultural and arts community featuring a wide variety of events. Annual festivals and events highlighting the area’s music, food, arts, culture and history attract thousands of local folks and visitors each year.
Among these events are the Water Festival, Shrimp Festival, Gullah Festival, Beaufort International Film Festival, Pat Conroy Literary Festival, Fall Festival of Houses and Gardens, and A Taste of Beaufort, which was just held the first weekend in May with a new twist—“A Little Taste of Music” from Charleston’s Piccolo Spoleto.

Many have laid the foundation for and contributed to the diversity of Beaufort’s culture and arts over the decades, including Harriet Keyserling. “Before she ever thought of running for public office, Harriet brought world class musicians to perform in Beaufort in the 1950s and helped start and sustain the Beaufort Arts Council, the Beaufort Little Theatre, and more,” Mayor Billy Keyserling said of his mother. “As a member of Beaufort County Council she promoted public art, the best example of which was the Robert Smalls statue at Tabernacle Baptist Church, engaged local art teachers in a contest to develop the county’s official logo and encouraged arts education in our schools. As a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, Harriet helped to create and chaired the Joint Legislative Committee on Cultural Affairs, establish the SC Arts Commission, created an awards program for businesses that invested in art in their communities, fought for arts-infused education in our schools, and more.” Mayor Keyserling added that his mother also served on the board of the Spoleto USA Festival.

“For the past three years, the Mayor of Charleston, John Tecklenburg, and I have talked about ways to cross pollinate our cities’ cultural assets, opening opportunities for Beaufort and Charleston artists to share opportunities while enriching our individual and collective communities,” explained Mayor Keyserling. “ ‘A Bite of Piccolo’ integrated into our annual Taste of Beaufort festival presented a unique opportunity to plant the seeds. Fortunately, the feedback from our residents and visitors from Charleston was very encouraging. In honor of my mother Harriet, who did so much to promote the arts, culture and humanities in Beaufort and throughout the state, I sponsored artists from Piccolo, who presented a lunchtime concert at the USCB Center for the Arts, two of the several performances on the stage on Saturday at Waterfront Park, and a classical finale at Beaufort’s First Presbyterian Church.”

Blues, Jazz and Chamber music were featured in “A Little Taste of Music”, a free series highlighting some of the Piccolo Spoleto festival artists from Charleston during the Taste of Beaufort festival. The College of Charleston Student Jazz Trio played at lunchtime Friday, May 3 on the lawn of the USCB Center for the Arts. On Saturday, May 4 in Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, Charleston Blues legend Roger Bellows and Beaufort’s Beek Webb played blues and old time country music, and The Robert Lewis Trio played jazz, along with the other groups performing at the festival. On Sunday, May 5, a special concert was held at First Presbyterian Church downtown, featuring performances by The In-Between and Charleston Chamber Music Trio. Dr. Steve Rosenberg, retired Music Department chair of the College of Charleston who is now a resident of Beaufort, organized the collaboration with the Charleston Piccolo Spoleto musicians. Dr. Rosenberg announced that three more Piccolo Spoleto events would be coming to Beaufort during the upcoming Charleston Spoleto season.

“It is my hope that enough of our citizens enjoyed the addition of Spoleto music and will work with the City’s Cultural District Advisory Board in the future, to help organize and find an even larger infusion of Piccolo arts into Beaufort, so that, as Mayor Tecklenburg of Charleston has suggested, the partnership can grow and become sustainable,” said Mayor Keyserling.

 

Beaufort’s Cultural District
The USCB Center for the Arts has been the heart of Beaufort’s rich and diverse arts culture for more than 30 years, serving as both the sponsor and venue for all forms of the arts experienced and enjoyed by both residents and visitors—live theater productions, music concerts, literary and educational presentations and seminars, film screenings, awards ceremonies, history lectures, the Beaufort International Film Festival, and more.

“Several years ago before I was Mayor, the City established a Public Arts Commission which, for a number of reasons out of our control, faded. With the addition of a Downtown director and assistant, who are charged with helping organize and promote downtown events, it seemed logical to create a cultural commission which promotes a broad range of arts, history and cultural assets important to the authenticity of our city and the desires of the residents. Thanks to the strong leadership of Bonnie Hargrove, Director of the USCB Center for the Arts, along with support from the collaborating Cultural District Advisory Board members and supported by city staff, they are off to a very strong start—not the least of which was blending the Taste of Beaufort festival with the introduction of Piccolo,” Mayor Keyserling said.

In April 2016 the board of commissioners of the South Carolina Arts Commission approved the City of Beaufort’s application for part of downtown Beaufort to become an official state-designated Cultural District. The City of Beaufort Cultural District’s vision:
“The City of Beaufort’s downtown is a recognized and valued cultural district actively sought out and used by artists, merchants, residents, and tourists. This concentrated area of diverse cultural venues, activities, and experiences energizes economic growth and improves the quality of life for our community and its visitors.
The Cultural District highlights the venues and events within the District boundaries that promote the visual arts, music, theatre, performance, literary, cultural cuisine/foodways, local culture, and history.”

Beaufort’s City Council created a Cultural District Advisory Board to assist in developing and supporting the downtown Cultural District. The advisory board is chaired by Bonnie Hargrove, Director of USCB’s Center for the Arts, and includes members representing the Greater Beaufort-Port Royal Convention and Visitors Bureau, Beaufort History Museum, Historic Beaufort Foundation, and Santa Elena History Center, along with one at-large representative.

On Friday evening May 10, the city’s Cultural District Advisory Board hosted a “sit-in” at the USCB Center for the Arts. The event highlighted a project that created six customized benches decorated by representatives of local agencies, which will be placed along with the city’s free shuttle pick-up points and will illustrate the unique cultural aspects of downtown Beaufort. The benches were constructed by Habitat for Humanity and decorated by local artists representing: the Beaufort Digital Corridor, Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce, Lowcountry Habitat for Humanity, Beaufort Reconstruction Museum, Santa Elena History Center, and USCB Center for the Arts.

“The benches will provide seating for those waiting for the tourism/parking shuttle bus that transports visitors, residents and USCB students around the City,” said Billy Keyserling. “They will be located on the street and I hope all will appreciate this new-to-Beaufort form of privately funded public art.”

The number and wide array of diverse historical, cultural, and arts-related events and venues in the city are evidence that Beaufortonians truly values its rich history, culture and the arts.