Swartz is Sumter gallery's Artist of the Month
Manning resident Carole S. Swartz, chosen as Sumter Artist Guild's Artist of the Month for March, will have her works exhibited March 3-31 at the Sumter County Gallery of Art.
Swartz often refers to herself as "playful" and produces works of a personal nature, filled with color, movement and emotion. On exhibit will be works by Swartz spanning more than four decades showing a change in subject matter and a slightly different approach to the application of paint.
Included is the painting "The Year of the White Rat," which is Swartz's rendering of the Zodiac sign - full of ambition and eagerness to take on 2020. Her work "Terror in Vegas" makes a more serious statement.
Playfulness is not only in her paintings, but can also be seen in her clay pieces which are on display as well. Since moving to Manning in 2007, she began creating art using the medium of clay. Influenced by several of her artist friends and by attending ceramic classes at the gallery, she transformed many of her images into the third dimension. "Abandoned Dreams," a clay piece depicting an abandoned castle with a grid enclosure on top, is a piece many can relate to. She comments, "We all have dreams we sometimes just have to close up, leave behind and move on."
Swartz received a Master of Fine Art from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Fine Art from the College of the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio. She has also studied at Columbus (Ohio) College of Art and Design; The Alexandria (Virginia) Art League; City Lit University, London, England; The Charlotte Press, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England; and Instituto Nacion l de Bellas Artes (INBA), San Miguel de Allenda, Mexico.
Swartz has been a member of the Sumter Artist Guild since 2012 and is also a member of the Lake Marion Artisans and the South Carolina Artisans Center in Walterboro. She continues to exhibit in solo and group shows and maintains a studio in Manning and Warm Springs, Virginia.
Swartz's exhibition can be seen at Sumter Gallery of Art, 200 Hasell St., in the Sumter County Cultural Center, Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call (803) 775-0543.
A second opportunity to see Swartz's work will be during Sumter's Inspire! Festival "Walk of Art" from March 26-April 5. In this event, artists will display their work in various storefronts and businesses in Downtown Sumter. There will be a reception on March 26 from 6 to 9 p.m. Swartz's work will be displayed in The Sumter Item, 36 W. Liberty St. For more information, call (803) 778-1139.