Halsey Institute Receives Major Funding from Warhol Foundation

CHARLESTON, SC—The Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston announces the award of an $80,000 program grant from the prestigious Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for 2009 and 2010.

Established in 1987 in accordance with Warhol's will, the foundation's objective is to foster innovative artistic expression and the creative processes that support artists and their work. The foundation values the contribution that organizations like the Halsey Institute make to artists, audiences, and to the community as a whole.

"We are thrilled that the Warhol Foundation will be partnering with us on our next two years of programming," remarks Halsey Director Mark Sloan. "On their site visit last spring, the Warhol program officers were quite impressed to see such ambitious programming generated by such a small staff. This funding comes at a critical time for us, as state funds and individual giving have been in decline since October 2008. In a very real sense, this grant is a life-line."

As the Halsey moves into its new gallery in the Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts, these funds will provide additional support for its innovative and thought-provoking exhibitions, lectures, films, artist residencies, and comprehensive website. Over the next two years, the Warhol grant will assist the following exhibitions and related programs: Call and Response: Africa to America—The Art of Nick Cave and Phyllis Galembo; David Stern: The American Years; Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait, Photographs by Chris Jordan; Leslie Wayne: New Paintings; and Present Tense: Vestiges of the Civil War in America.

Warhol (born 1928) was one of the most accomplished and multi-disciplined artists of the twentieth century, and a leader in the avant-garde New York art scene from the 1950s until his death in 1987. He was a pioneer in Pop art, photography, print media, film, and publishing—well known for his images of Campbell's soup cans, famous celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and the Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung.

Currently the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art is located within the Simons Center for the Arts at 54 St. Philip Street, between Calhoun and George Streets, but will relocate this fall into a new, state-of-the-art gallery on the ground floor of the Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts. Parking is available in the St. Philip Street and George Street garages. For more information, please contact the Halsey Institute at (843) 953-5680 or visit the website at www.halsey.cofc.edu.