Palette and Palate Stroll

Explore downtown galleries and enjoy food and wine at fourth annual event

Tomorrow night's sampling of fine art, cuisine and wine is sure to be any connoisseur's dream of a perfect midsummer night.

Revelers in the fourth annual Palette and Palate Stroll will meander through downtown streets, 5:30-7:30 p.m., from gallery to gallery enjoying wine and cuisine from a different restaurant at each.

"The palette stroll is an exciting, fun event with fine art and fine cuisine," said Lese Corrigan, president of the Charleston Fine Arts Dealers' Association.

"It's tastes and a little sip to get you through the midsummer. And it's a smaller crowd than most events would be so you can have a chance to both look at the works and speak with the chefs."

According to Corrigan, many chefs use the intimate crowds as a chance to try something new and benefit from conversations with the art lovers.

The evening's pairings are Ann Long Fine Art and Oak, Charleston Renaissance and High Cotton, Ella Richardson Fine Art and Social, Helena Fox Fine Art and Carolina's, Martin Gallery and Fat Hen & Olive, Smith Killian Fine Art and McCrady's, Wells Gallery and Charleston Grill, Carolina Galleries and Circa 1886, Corrigan Gallery and Cypress, John Doyle Art Gallery and 82 Queen, Horton Hayes Fine Art and Shine, Robert Lange Studios and FIG, The Sylvan Gallery and Halls Chophouse.

"It helps create community ties, the restaurant connection with the art galleries, and cuisine being a find art also, and the personal interactions," Corrigan said about the stroll's appeal.

"But also we're working towards building a large scholarship fund, and making that impact. We're looking towards the future and supporting artists-to-be and showing what can happen when everyone works together. It's just a perfect match."

Proceeds will go towards art scholarships for students. The maximum 700 attendees simply have to make reservations online, check in at any one of the galleries to get a sticker and then visit each at their leisure over the two hour event.

"We have one of the most incredible histories of visual art in these United States," Corrigan said. "The first artist of record in the colonies was a female arriving here in Charleston. We have that historic obligation."

"We are teaming with artists; there are artists coming into town all the time. We have this wonderful creative spirit in all art forms here. We have wonderful scenery here," she continued.

"Visual art is accessible to everyone regardless of their background. It is something everyone can delve into on many different levels. You can't avoid it; everywhere you turn around, there is some aspect of it. We are visual people; it is an intrinsic part of us. I personally believe that after food and shelter, the need to be creative is primary. Here is a very easy way for people to feed their eyes and their souls and we are then healthier and more involved human beings."

"It's food for the eyes and the soul," Corrigan said. "You just never know what you're going to find where!"

If you go

What: 4th annual Palette and Palate Stroll

Where: Galleries and restaurants in downtown Charleston

When: Friday at 5:30 -7:30 p.m.

Benefitting: Student art scholarships

Presented by: Charleston Fine Arts Dealers' Association

Cost: $30/person

Tickets: Online at www.charlestonfineartdealersassociation.com

More info: Call 819-8006 or e-mail info@cfada.com