Not Just Mailing It In

Last Sunday the 39th annual Spoleto Festival USA came to its glorious conclusion on our side of the river when it wrapped up with a music-filled grand finale at Middleton Place. But the week before, West Ashley was abuzz with poetry, photography, music, comedy, dance, and an artwalk as chARTarama was held in the Avondale Business District in conjunction with Piccolo Spoleto.
For the first time ever, the chART Outdoor Initiative & Gallery and Avondale Point Business District held a three-night event that included live music, art installations, and the second chART Box art competition. In September 2014, chART and West Of teamed up for an art walk and competition where 30 local artists painted metal newspaper boxes. This time, however, the boxes were mailboxes. Many of the same artists again participated, but there was also a student category or junior chARTists.
More than an art competition, chART Box II was a fundraiser for neighborhood signage for the Avondale area. Attendees could bid on the mailboxes by placing an envelop with a slip and their bid amount in the mailbox of their choice. $526 was raised for the signage project.
“The goal was to not only infuse Avondale with Piccolo, but also hopefully infuse money and promote the hard working local artists, performers, and businesses,” said Geoffrey Richardson, who along with his wife owns Lava Salon on Savannah Highway and is the founder of chART.
In the adult category, it was Lisa Shimko’s mailbox, adorned with octopus and flowers, that raised the most money and therefore was the first place prize winner. Local street artists Patch Whiskey took home second place with his mailbox monster, while Temple Jones’ turtle box came in third.
In the Junior chARTist category, West Ashley High School senior Paul Michael Smith took first place, Jackson Abeyta a 7th grader at Cario Middle took second place, and Helen Izzo, a 7th grader at East Cooper Montessori School, came in third.
“Overall I think everything went great,” said Richardson. “As usual, when you do these things for the first time, you learn what worked great and what needs to be tweaked but all the sponsors, businesses, artists, performers and volunteers that were involved said they really enjoyed it and hopes there’s another one next year.”
Richardson hopes that chARTarama will return next year bigger and better. “We really want to see Avondale as an annual part of Piccolo Spoleto.  At least now we have a blueprint to run off of for next year,” he says. “And we’ll be able to start planning more in advance. I’d like to see a center stage at the end of Triangle’s parking lot near the newly designed bus shed.”
To see the designs for the Avondale signage project or to contribute, you can visit www.gofundme.com/AvondaleSignage.