** Due to the College of Charleston’s plans to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, we have canceled the in-person opening reception for Young Contemporaries 2020 and the Salon des Refusés. The exhibition will be our first online-only exhibition! We will have an awards ceremony in the Halsey Institute Instagram Stories. Find us on Instagram at @halsey_institute

Now in its 35th year, the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art is proud to present Young Contemporaries 2020. The annual exhibition is a celebration of talented artists at the College of Charleston. With works selected by a nationally renowned juror, the exhibition reflects the strength and diversity of practice in the School of the Arts’ rigorous programs. Featuring a wide range of media, including paintings, sculpture, photography, and prints, the exhibition showcases the efforts of the student body at the College.

Painter Melanie Daniel will be the juror for Young Contemporaries 2020.

Concurrent with Young Contemporaries will be the Salon des Refusés exhibition, showing in the exhibition space of the Simons Center for the Arts. The works in the Salon were chosen by Studio Art faculty. The origin of the Salon des Refusés dates to Paris in 1863, when artists who had been rejected from the official Salon caused such a protest that Emperor Napoleon III ordered another exhibition held for them. Among the painters in the original Salon des Refusés were Camille Pissaro, Henri Fantin-Latour, James M. Whistler, and Edouard Manet.

The opening reception is a signature event of the College of Charleston’s 250th Anniversary. The Young Contemporaries and Salon des Refusés awards are funded by Dean Valerie B. Morris and the Dean’s Excellence Fund for the College of Charleston School of the Arts.