Local Artists on Display in USC Sumter Campus Galleries

Kerry Strathman and Wilson Hall art students featured in exhibits

by Alethia Hummel

Sumter, SC (01/28/2022) — After a two-year hiatus, art is returning to the USC Sumter campus. The University of South Carolina Sumter is currently featuring two new exhibits in the university's art galleries. All exhibits are free, open to the public and available for viewing Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Art works from students at Wilson Hall will be on display in the Upstairs Gallery (2nd Floor of the Williams Brice Edwards Administration Building) until February 18. The artwork in this exhibit represents a sampling of work created by Wilson Hall art students taught by Ashley Lareau, Cynthia McGrady, and Tara Schumacher. Instruction is offered in a variety of mediums: ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. Each of these mediums are taught from a beginning to advanced level, with some students going on to take an AP Art Studio course in their chosen medium.

Until March 31, "Through My Looking Glass" will be the featured exhibit in the Umpteenth Gallery located in the Arts and Letters Building. The installation features paintings by Kerry Strathman. Strathman's artistic vision and expression has been a lifelong pursuit. She grew up in southeastern Wisconsin between the rural dairy farms and urban hubs of Milwaukee and Chicago. Later, her husband's career in the U.S. Airforce launched their lives across the country and globe. The couple eventually settled in Sumter in the 1990's and Strathman began her journey to becoming an RN at USC Sumter. In 2004, she graduated with honors from the UofSC Columbia campus with her BSN and she now serves the Sumter community at Prisma Health Toumey hospital.

Strathman is active in the Sumter Gallery of Art and Sumter Art Guild. Most recently she has been involved in the plein air movement which is the act of painting or drawing outdoors. In 2021, Strathman won first prize in the emerging artist division for her painting "Blue Ridge Summer" in the Blowing Rock Plein Air festival in Blowing Rock, NC.

Strathman says, "I'm inspired by our beautiful South Carolina landscapes and locally loved locations. The most intriguing views, for me, are those I witness day to day in every change of weather and season. Through my looking glass, I see simple places with a completely endless variety of views and accompanying emotions."

All of USC Sumter art gallery exhibits are free and open to the public. Visit www.uscsumter.edu for more information on current and upcoming displays.