The annual Young Contemporaries exhibit, featuring student art, is on display at the College’s Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art through April 22, 2023. (Photos by Catie Cleveland) 

Each spring, the directors of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art stage a show that exclusively features the artwork of students at the College of Charleston. That show – Young Contemporaries – has been a marquee event for nearly 40 years. And this year’s edition, which runs through April 22, 2023, features the work of over 40 students. Like all exhibitions at the Halsey, it’s free and open to the public.

Join the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in celebrating the work of College of Charleston students at 5 p.m. March 17. The 38th annual exhibition showcases the talented artists of CofC and features a selection chosen by a nationally renowned juror. The gallery has artwork from a variety of mediums. Entry is free. 

In the 1990s, Kirsten Stolle’s mother dressed up as a strawberry with fish gills and marched the streets of northern California.

Her surreal regalia was a commentary on how the Monsanto Company, an American agrichemical and biotechnology corporation, was attempting to insert flounder DNA into the genome of a strawberry to improve the plant’s frost resistance. In response, anti-GMO activists organized a puppet theater protest in Santa Cruz.

A multimedia artist then living in San Francisco, Stolle drove an hour south to support the parade. Standing on the sidewalk, she watched as her mother — a self-described anarchist — fought the power while dressed as a fruit-fish hybrid.

Elizabeth Bick, assistant professor and area head of photography in the Department of Studio Art, gave an artist talk on Jan. 14, 2023, at her current show, Contrapposto, on exhibit at the at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. (Photos by Catie Cleveland) 

“The Artistic Heartbeat of Charleston.” That’s the tagline that has advertised the College of Charleston’s School of the Arts for the past two years. And a big part of that claim is rooted in the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. For almost 40 years, the Halsey has served the Charleston community by showcasing the work of innovative visual artists from around the world. And on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023, the gallery will open its 121st exhibition – a two-person show featuring the photography of Elizabeth Bick and the weaving of Jovencio de la Paz.

The art department at the College of Charleston devotes a generous portion of its ground floor on Calhoun Street to gallery space. Rotating exhibits of art and film are mounted here, as are free lectures. Past exhibits include a wide-ranging photography show about all aspects of life in the South. This is serious art curation—many of the Halsey’s exhibits go on to tour galleries around the country.

What does it mean when informational text is cut into pieces, tossed in the air and reassembled on canvas? How does it feel to enter a gallery and encounter empty pesticide bottles, painted in glittery gold and piled on top of one another like a sculpture? Kirsten Stolle – part visual artist, part historian and part archaeologist – creates art that inspires questions.

In this episode of Speaking of … College of Charleston, CofC’s official podcast, Katie Hirsch, director and chief curator at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston, speaks with Stolle, whose exhibition Only You Can Prevent a Forest, is on view at the Halsey through Dec. 10, 2022. The exhibit explores the global influence of chemical companies on our food supply and their efforts to downplay the effects of their products on our health and the environment.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but this old adage merely scratches the surface regarding the power of art. Art has the potential for profound impact. It can stimulate emotions. It can communicate. Amuse. Astound. Inspire. And educate. Something so versatile is surely an invaluable resource, and that’s exactly how the directors of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston see their work.

Last winter, this group decided to implement a new pilot program using the first exhibit of 2022 – Dyani White Hawk’s Hear Her. The concept, dubbed “Drive-by Discussions,” was simple: invite a handful of professors to bring their students to the gallery, have them take in the exhibit and then immediately afterward use that experience to spark discussion in the classroom.

The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston School of the Arts announces the upcoming exhibition, Kirsten Stolle: Only You Can Prevent A Forest for fall 2022. This exhibition will be on view at the Halsey Institute from Friday, August 26th to Saturday, December 10th, 2022. An opening reception is set for Friday, August 26th from 6:30 pm to 8 pm.

The Halsey Institute’s open hours are Monday – Saturday 11 am to 4 pm and 11 am to 7 pm on Thursdays, and the galleries are open to the public with free admission.