Benefit to mix fine cuisine, fine art

It's the middle of a long, hot summer, the perfect time to enjoy a melange of spectacular art, fine wine and gourmet food.

To benefit visual arts scholarships for area students, the Charleston Fine Art Dealers' Association will presents its second annual 'Palette and Palate Stroll' Friday in downtown's Historic District.

Combining an evening of first-class cuisine and fine art, the event will pair 15 galleries and 15 restaurants, which will provide hors d'oeuvres.

Galleries taking part are: Ann Long Fine Art, the Audubon Gallery, Carolina Galleries, Charleston Renaissance Gallery, the Corrigan Gallery, Coleman Fine Art, the Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art Gallery, the Fraser Fox Fine Art Gallery, Horton Hayes Fine Art, the Margaret Petterson Gallery, the Martin Gallery, the Robert Lange Gallery, Smith-Killian Fine Art, the Sylvan Gallery and the Wells Gallery.

Participating restaurants are: Carolina's, Cru Cafe, Muse Restaurant, Charleston Cooks!, Cypress, Social Restaurant and Wine Bar, Charleston Grill, Coast, Grill 225, Granville's Cafe, Cordavi, McCrady's, Oak Steakhouse, Tristan and Fleet Landing.

Ted's Butcherblock is the exclusive wine sponsor of the 'Palette and Palate Stroll.'

Last year's event attracted more than 700 people from across the country and raised more than $12,000 for the scholarship fund.

Founded in 1999, the Charleston Fine Art Dealers' Association consists of some of the city's most prominent galleries. The association promotes Charleston as a fine art destination for artists and art collectors.

'Palette and Palate' will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $40 and may be purchased at Smith-Killian Fine Art, 9 Queen St., or by calling 853-0708. For more information, go online to www.cfada.com.

Gospel Choir in Europe

On Wednesday, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir will embark on its second European tour to perform at various sites in three Italian cities: Rome, Florence and Milan.

Directed by Vivian E. Jones, the 44-member group will perform African-American spirituals and gospel songs in Valdesian Church in Rome; in the Santa Maria del Fiore and the Basilica Santa Maria Novella, both in Florence; and in Santa Maria del Carmine in Milan.

The tour is organized by Music Contact International of Burlington, Vt., an operator of performance-group opportunities to invitational festivals and concert programs around the world.

Opera films

To see whether Charlestonians are interested in having operas simulcast from the Metropolitan Opera, the Charleston County Public Library will sponsor a series of three opera films.

All will be shown at 1:30 p.m. at the Main Library, 68 Calhoun St., and are free to the public.

'We have had numerous contacts with the Met relative to our bringing the simulcast here in Charleston if we can come up with the right equipment and can afford the public performance rights,' says

Sara Breibart, adult program coordinator at the library who arranged the opera film series.

She said the library has registered an application with the Met for getting the simulcast.

'If we can't have it here at the library, I may try to persuade the Regal Theatre, where the simulcast is held in Atlanta and Augusta, to bring it here,' Breibart said, adding, 'If I can get a respectable audience for these operas on film, then that should be a talking point to bring the simulcast to Charleston.'

On July 16, the series will open with Verdi's masterpiece 'Aida,' starring Luciano Pavarotti and conducted by Lorin Maazel. Verdi wrote the opera in response to a request by the Khedive of Egypt for a work with an authentic Egyptian flavor to open the Cairo Opera House in 1871. Amid the imposing grandeur of the land of the pharaohs and the ochre hues of the desert, the opera deals with the drama of intense human emotions concerning Radames' love for a slave girl, Aida, and the jealousy of Amneris, daughter of the Egyptian king. On July 23, Puccini's 'Madama Butterfly,' directed by Jean-Pierry Ponnelle, will be shown using an array of cinematic effects to evoke the separate worlds of the young Japanese woman, Butterfly, sung by Mirella Frent, and Placido Domingo as the American Lt. Pinkerton.

On July 30, Verdi's 'Rigoletto,' the tragic story of a father's love, will star Domingo with the orchestra conducted by James Levine.

'Special Art'

Sometimes beautiful art can come from unlikely places.

Celebrating the artistic abilities of individuals with intellectual disabilities, the Hulsey Litigation Group is sponsoring an art exhibit 'Special Art by Special People,' 5:30-8 p.m. Thursday at the Courtenay Street Gallery in the Harper Student Center at the Medical University of South Carolina, 45 Courtney Drive.

The exhibit will showcase the artwork of five artists with disabilities, some of whom have sold their work for as much as $500, according to

Paula Byers of Special Olympics South Carolina. 'MUSC has been so wonderful to help us that we hope to make this an annual event,' says Byers.

The exhibit is also sponsored by the Advocacy Coalition for People With Disabilities with framing supplied by Beyond the Image.

The event is free to the public, with parking available underneath the Harper Student Center. For information or to make a contribution, call Special Olympics at 795-5316.

Back in business

After six months of retirement, longtime artist

John Carroll Doyle

could not stand all the luxurious leisure time. Thus, he is once again showing his oil paintings at his gallery, which is back in business at 54 Broad St. For hours, call 577-7734.

Fall arts roundup

In an announcement last week regarding listings for arts organizations for the annual fall arts section, which are due July 17, it should be noted this applies only to organizations with a full schedule of events for the 2007-08 season. Also, the section will not include any individual commercial art galleries because there are more than 100 in the area.

In the visual arts area, the Gibbes Museum of Art, the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, the Charleston Museum and the Charleston Artist Guild will be included.

Reach Dottie Ashley at 937-5704 or dashley@postandcourier.com.