Yes, you read that correctly. I only saw Florence for two hours. In fact, it was closer to 90 minutes. My husband and I were traveling to another city on this day. He had to meet with some of his clients and, so I waited at the Florence County Museum for him. I am so glad I walked in there!
On my next visit to Florence, I intend to set aside time to explore this museum more thoroughly. First of all, it is free. Say it with me: We love free museums! Yes, it is possible to set up a museum with quality pieces and not charge patrons an arm and a leg.
Opened to the public in 2014, this collection of exhibit halls still sparkles like a new car. There are two floors. One wing is dedicated to regional history and one wing is dedicated to art.
History
This particular area of South Carolina is called the Pee Dee region. The largest gallery includes artifacts from the local area including Native American, Colonial period and Civil War artifacts.
The community gallery contains information on the people who have called this region home over the generations. These are the stories that built the community. For this reason, it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with the area if (like me) you know nothing about Florence.
There’s an exhibit dedicated to the woman (Jane Beverly Evans) who envisioned a Florence County Museum all the way back in the 1920’s. There are antique farm implements, since this is a relatively rural community. There is even information on the first young man to integrate their public schools in 1964. The curators have given great thought to honoring the foundations of this region, whether those foundations are people, places or things.
Art
There were two major exhibits currently on display during my visit. The first was what I am calling “modern art” by a woman named Anne Lemanski. “The Messenger” is a collection of non-traditional sculpture pieces that represent man’s dialog with the animal kingdom. She has stitched together leather, plastic and, in one case, birch veneer to create huge animal sculptures. While I am not a fan of modern art, the craftsmanship here is undeniable.
“Kindred Spirit” is an exhibit of paintings by William Henry Johnson. I was not familiar with his work, but I was so impacted by this exhibit that I researched him that night. I spent a couple of hours reading about his life and the sad final chapter of his illustrious life.
Johnson lived between worlds his entire life. He was born biracial in 1901, which was rare enough. As a young man, he left his hometown of Florence (yes, he was a local) to go to art school in New York. Eventually, he moved to Europe and lived there with his European wife for many years. His art during this time period reminds me of a cross between Van Gogh and the Impressionists.
Later in life, he returned to the South and got reacquainted with his rural roots. At this point, his art takes on a completely different look. Personally, I would never have guessed that these pieces were done by the same person as the earlier works.
The thing that impressed me the most about this little museum was the experiential art exhibit. Years ago, I was in the Denver Art Museum and they provided sketch pads, pencils and comfy chairs for guests to sketch if they felt inspired. They also provided little cards about certain pieces in the collection. These cards gave extra information. For example, I looked at a still life of a vase of flowers. The special card explained that several of the flowers in the painting did not grow in England, where the artist lived at the time that she completed the painting. Therefore, the entire still life was never in front of the artist, but rather, in her imagination. This fascinated me! These little extras help museum visitors to truly experience and connect with the art, not just glance at it and move on.
The Florence County Museum had an experiential room called “Inside the Paintings of William Henry Johnson.” The staff created three dimensional versions of a couple of his paintings and then encouraged visitors (especially children) to feel the textures, to sit in the environment and have their pictures taken, and to experience Johnson’s world. It was brilliant!
You can bet that I left a donation in the box on my way out. I am happy to support local arts producers when they do a great job. In roughly six months or so, I will be back in the Florence area and I plan to dedicate more time to the Florence County Museum. Congrats to the Pee Dee region of South Carolina for launching this little gem.
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