Artist Amanda Jane Miller's contribution to the IN PLACE project was this piece titled Cat. The paint on metal work was installed at the North Charleston Community Center in 2019. Cat was one of the last IN PLACE works to be completed and stands at the head of the Carriage Trail. Miller typically works as an illustrator and printmaker, so the materials used for Cat are atypical for her art. However, this depiction of a feline is firmly a part of Miller's rumpled cartoon style. Though all IN PLACE works are made to integrate with their environment, Miller's is something of a departure from other works in the series. Most other pieces use natural features within the work — bushes as hair or an umbrella keeping away ivy rather than water. However, Miller's piece is "in place" not because it incorporates its surroundings directly, but because a lone cat something one would not be surprised, or might even expect, to see.
Staci Leech-Cornell's Head Wrap captures the essence of the IN PLACE project in an unparalleled way. Leech, a Nitro, WV based artist, created the work in 2019. The piece consists of paint on metal, though Leech-Cornell also manipulated the appearance of concrete blocks. The paint on metal component of the work peeks above a concrete retaining wall and depicts a Black woman wearing a bright read head wrap tied with a bow. Leech-Cornell painted the wall Black to create a negative space for the portrait, which cleverly causes the woman's silhouette to be suggested by the cracks of the wall itself. While other place such as Bob Ross and Girl use the site as their figures' hair, Head Wrap does the opposite, installing the hair but using the site for the silhouette. This seamless integration of the contrived and natural is a triumphant expression of the IN PLACE initiative's mission to incorporate art with its surroundings.
Tiger Portal is another IN PLACE work. Created in 2019 by Kayleigh Phillips, this piece is paint on metal. The work consists of two separate pieces of metal, one of which is placed further up a hill than the other. On the higher piece, the top half of a cartoon tiger emerges from what appears to be a doorway, while on the lower piece, the tiger's bottom half is entering an identical doorway. The implication of the work is that the two portals are link, a fact which seems to greatly confuse the tiger. This Phillips work serves to beautify an otherwise empty urban street corner.
Alternately known colloquially as Portrait of a Student, Girl is a 2019 work by Debra Rayhill. Rayhill typically creates inventive watercolor portraits. This piece is paint on metal and part of the city of Charleston's IN PLACE initiative, which placed small works of public art throughout the city. Rayhill's Girl, like all other IN PLACE pieces, interfaces directly with its surroundings. In the case if this piece, the tangle of ivy and bushes serve as a stand-in for the young woman's hair. The community title of the work suggests that the figure is a student and this is supported by Rayhill's placement of Girl near Stonewall Middle School. Rayhill's work is unassuming and simple, though once one knows of its existence, the local landscape is enhanced.
This charming portrait of painter Bob Ross was created in 2019 by Jeff Pierson. The work is composed of paint on metal and is a caricature of its namesake. Ross hosted a Public Broadcasting Service television show called The Joy of Painting, an educational program which taught viewers painting basics and garnered Ross a devoted following for his warm demeanor and passion for painting. Pierson's depiction of Ross is part of the IN PLACE series; a city of Charleston initiative that commissioned eight works which integrate seamlessly into their sites. Pierson's contribution to the project combines two and three-dimensional elements. Though the work is paint on metal, the face, hand, and palette of the figure are positioned at different depths. A bush stands in for Ross' iconic permed hair, whimsically complementing Pierson's cartoonish and exaggerated art style. Pierson's Bob Ross is a playful tribute to a painter who believed that everyone can create art.
Geraldine the Giraffe is a paint on metal work created by Rob Cleland in 2019. The work is part of the IN PLACE initiative by the city of Charleston, which commissioned public works of art that integrate into their surroundings. Cleland's contribution to this project is a sculpture of a giraffe poking its head above a hedgerow. The giraffe is inspired by Christopher Thorne's Youtube videos and books, which feature a puppet named Geraldine the Giraffe teaching children phonics. Cleland has been creating in Charleston since 1987 and works in a huge variety of mediums. His public artwork appears throughout the city.
Another installment in the city of Charleston's IN PLACE series, Artie the Robot was created by Blake Wheeler in 2019. The paint on metal image depicts a cartoonish humanoid robot dressed in a classic suit and hat and holding a metal umbrella. Rather than shielding the figure from rain, the umbrella serves to carve a space out of the ivy that blankets the wall on which Artie the Robot is placed. At four feet wide by six feet tall, the piece is roughly life-sized. In conjunction with this work, Wheeler also created three traditional paintings featuring Artie for a Charleston art show. Artie has become a recurring character in Wheeler's work, appearing in a variety of sketches and drawings.
Sandra the Squirrel is part of the 2019 IN PLACE initiative, which designated $45,000 for community cleanup and public art. Mallory Burka created Sandra the Squirrel on April 13, 2019, during a cleanup of Kanawha City. The piece depicts and oversized cartoon squirrel wearing a cowboy hat and playing a banjo. It shares space near MacCorkle Avenue with the Kanawha City Welcome Sign. Burka grew up in Charleston and has remained active as an artist and community arts organizer.
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IN PLACE was an initiative by the city of Charleston to bring these eight works of art to the area. Though themes span a wide range, the shared bond of the works is the way in which they interact with their physical environments. To learn more visit: http://publicartcharleston.org/.
