Charleston Artist Collective debuts with Soundscapes

The Charleston Artist Collective is one of the city’s newest arts organizations, and you can meet the folks behind it on Thurs. Oct. 21 at its premiere art show.

The online gallery, founded in August by Allison Williamson, hosts their first physical show at the Balzac Brothers building (11 Fulton St.) from 5-9 p.m. Entitled Soundscapes, the show features works from Collective artists Susie Callahan, Lynne Hamontree, Mary Hoffman, Ann Keane, Anne Darby Parker, Dee Schenck Rhodes, and Everett White. Ten percent of proceeds from art sales will benefit Carolina Studios.

Although the majority of the artists Williamson represents are women, she hopes to diversify and add more artists in the near future. Most pieces on the website are unframed and affordably priced between $75 and $300. Artists will be challenged with a new theme each month, and 20 percent of the proceeds will benefit a different local organization.

“My whole life I’ve been passionate about art,” Williamson says. After earning a degree in art history from the University of the South and studying at the Parsons School of Design in Paris, Williamson spent five years managing a gallery in Park City, Utah, as well as organizing art shows across the country. She returned to her native Charleston in 2006, and after helping artist friends put together shows, she decided to take it to the next level.

“My goal is simple,” she says on her website. “To provide a fresh approach to representing artists through an innovative online gallery.”

Check it out at charlestonartistcollective.org.