Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BROOKGREEN GARDENS
sculpt at a public sculpture garden
PAWLEYS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA
We study anatomy and drapery by actually looking at real sculpture. Sure
beats referring to photos in a book.
—Garland Weeks, sculpting instructor
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If you're interested in sculpture, particularly American sculpture, there's no better place to
visit than Pawleys Island, South Carolina. You've probably never heard of this laid-back little
island, connected to the mainland by two bridges, but as far as the island's approximately 150
year-round residents are concerned, that's all for the best. They don't call themselves “arrog-
antly shabby” for nothing. Being right next to the more than 9,000-acre Brookgreen Gardens,
however, the first public sculpture garden in America, the largest outdoor collection of figur-
ative sculpture, and a national historic landmark since 1992, it's getting downright difficult to
remain obscure.
Not only does Brookgreen Gardens have the most significant collection of American
sculpture in its Huntington Sculpture Garden (more than 1,000 works, 500 of which are spread
out over 50 beautifully landscaped acres), but prominent sculptors from around the country
are brought in to lead workshops, classes, and on-site internships. Which means you, budding
sculptor that you are, can rent a quaint beachside vacation home and be within a clam's throw
of Brookgreen's Campbell Center for American Sculpture, where classes are held.
Your sculpting options include mold making, human anatomy, sculpting the portrait, cast-
ing, and carving in plaster. If you're a total novice, sign up for Sandy Scott's workshop, where
you'll learn how to make your own armatures and sculpt a bird.
Back in early 1930, when Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington, the wealthy Northerners
who started Brookgreen, began buying up the low-country seashore between the Waccamaw
River and the Atlantic, their aim was to preserve the native flora and fauna. Then they realized
that the former rice and indigo plantations they were snatching up would make the perfect out-
door setting to display Anna's sculptures.
