The Art Gallery on Pendleton Square is searching for 2D and 3D artists to display and sell their works at the locally owned and managed artist working cooperative.
The gallery, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in September 2020, features more than 20 artists in a wide range of mediums including jewelry, fiber art, stained glass mosaics, furniture, paintings, pottery, photography, mixed media, woodturning and sculpture.
The Pendleton Square Artist Cooperative provides local, emerging and established artists with experience in juried exhibitions or festivals the opportunity to participate in the business of running an art gallery and to benefit from the support of a strong local artist community.
Gallery artists must live or work within a 40-mile radius of the Art Gallery on Pendleton Square in Pendleton, SC.
History of Pendleton Square Artist Cooperative
Lou Koppel, retired physicist, Pendleton resident and sculptor dreamed of creating a cooperative for local artists working within a 30-mile radius of Pendleton, South Carolina to show and sell fine art.
In the fall of 2014, 12 artists from the community opened the new cooperative’s gallery doors in space next to the Village Bakery and Café. Taking what had been many different businesses and opening up the space, they painted, ordered hanging systems and found success.
While the learning curve of forming a business was steep, the shared vision was there. Then in the early morning hours of January 11, 2017, a three-foot wide hole was torn through the side of the soft historic brick building when a car plowed into the gallery’s exterior. Artists were forced to remove the entire contents of the gallery, which had been so lovingly created two years earlier.
But Koppel’s dream of a local artists’ cooperative would be reborn. Fortunately, a space on the square next to the Islander Restaurant became available. It was larger, more open and even boasted a pale gray carpet that would not need replacing.
Receiving the key to the new space just nine days before Pendleton’s annual Spring Jubilee art festival, every artist dove in to clean, paint, build pedestals, install shelving and lighting, and hang wire systems.
Art Gallery on Pendleton Square opened its doors for the second time the day of the festival opening on April 1, 2017.
For more information on the Pendleton Square Artist Cooperative, contact Beth Carter Gautsch at bcarter3078@gmail.com or 864-420-3078. Artists can download an application form at artgalleryps.org.
