Where is the “Basement Gallery”?
The Basement Gallery is the bottom floor of the Gettys Art Center in Old Town Rock Hill (201 East Main Street.)

Tell us a bit about the artists that are involved in the “Basement Gallery” and how it came to be…
The artists involved in launching the Basement Gallery are part of a group called Friday Arts Project. We are a collective of artists committed to working out questions of life and faith while integrating the true, good, and beautiful with our work. We provide a forum for dialogue enabling artists to inspire, engage, and create toward the renewal of hearts and culture.

We were looking around Old Town for a place to regularly display work and contribute to the emerging arts scene in Rock Hill. Since the Gettys Art Center has become the place in Rock Hill to experience cutting edge work, we recognized the value in showing work there. Currently, there are four artists working regularly in the basement, but the main corridor has been neglected for some time. With its beautiful stairway and marble wainscoting, it is an ideal venue for displaying work. With the blessing of the Arts Council, we cleaned and painted the corridor this fall.

What types of work are featured in your first exhibition “Red & Green” and when will it be on view?
Just in time for Rock Hill’s ChristmasVille festival, “Red & Green” is a play on that most ubiquitous color combination. The exhibition represents a variety of media, including drawing, painting, design, photography, and video. The show opens Saturday, December 5 in conjunction with the Winthrop Silent Art Auction at Gallery Up.

How do you see the “Basement Gallery” contributing to the local art scene?
We see this new venue as an opportunity to have another stop during Old Town art crawls. The Loading Dock Gallery is a wonderful space for student work, and we hope the Basement Gallery can serve the recent alumni & emerging artists group in Rock Hill.

What kinds of programming do you have plans for in the future?
We are working toward an exhibition of portraits from the ongoing Monday night portrait sessions at the Center for the Arts to open early 2010.

What are the galleries hours and how can work be purchased?
The Gettys Art Center is open Monday-Friday from 10 AM – 5 PM. (Editors note: Gallery Up stays open until 7 pm on Thursdays.) Work can be purchased by contacting Stephen Crotts (www.scrottsillustration.com)