The College of Charleston Friends of the Library will host “A Visual Legacy: the Halsey- McCallum Collection at the College of Charleston Library” starting on September 24, 2010 and running until December 15, 2010. William Halsey and Corrie McCallum donated a number of their works and their papers to the College of Charleston. In addition, several generous donors have added to this collection. Many of these paintings are now on permanent display at the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library and serve as the focal point of the exhibit. The exhibit also includes prints, photographs and a letter from Lady Bird Johnson thanking Corrie McCallum for a print she was given on a visit to Charleston.
On September 24, the Friends will also hold a lecture and reception concerning this collection. Angela Mack, Executive Director of the Gibbes Museum of Art, will speak about the impact of both artists on Charleston and the national art scene. The public is invited to attend this free event. The lecture will be held in Room 227 of the Addlestone Library, 205 Calhoun St at 6 pm.
For more information, contact the Friends at 843-953-5530.
Additional Information about the artists
William Halsey (1915 – 1999) devoted his life to painting and educating in South Carolina. His work presents an authentic regional voice to Abstract Expressionism and records the vision of a valiant pioneer of abstract art in the American South. After completing his education and early professional career in Boston, Mexico, Charleston, and Savannah, Halsey taught at the Gibbes Museum of Art and established the College of Charleston’s studio art program in 1964. There he served as assistant professor and artist-in-residence at the College for nearly twenty years. His impact was substantial and lasting, inspiring his fellow faculty members to vote unanimously that the College’s art gallery be named in his honor upon his retirement. Halsey continued to paint daily in his studio on Fulton Street, determined to extend his contribution to 20th century art, until his death in 1999. Today, the Halsey Institute of Contemporary art continues the artist’s vision by introducing the work of emerging and mid-career artists of national stature to the local community and beyond.
Corrie McCallum’s (1914-2009) staunch commitment to the arts spanned a prolific career as painter and printmaker, dedicated wife and mother of three children, world traveler, and lifelong educator. At a time when few women received formal training in the arts, she earned honors at the University of South Carolina and the Boston Museum School. McCallum served as the first professional Curator of Education at the Gibbes Art Gallery in the 1960s and established the Printmaking Department at the College of Charleston in the 1970s. Her intuitive, painterly response to place and color from the streetscapes of Charleston to cultures and architectural landmarks around the world permeates her momentous 80-year oeuvre.
Together, as steadfast models and advocates of progressive leadership and education in the visual arts, Halsey and McCallum imparted a remarkable legacy to their students, colleagues, and neighbors.
