Tucked between Florence and Sumter, Lake City is a small town of around 6,000 people.
But for one week each April, the sleepy town becomes a bustling art gallery, with hundreds of pieces on display in more than 40 public spaces. Not just the usual locations, like museums, but all over town: restaurants, shops, libraries, renovated warehouses – almost everywhere you look.
The Lake City ArtFields Collective was founded in 2013 with a dual mission: celebrating Southern art and revitalizing the small town through the arts. Now a nine-day juried show, this year’s tenth-anniversary event, slated for April 22-30, will attract thousands of visitors and will award more than $100,000 in prizes.
After canceling the event in 2020 and offering it in a COVID-adjusted format in 2021, organizers are excited to return to what has drawn people from the beginning, a highly accessible and fun way to see a staggering array of art on display.
In addition to the juried show and student shows, there will be public art projects, food trucks, a maker’s market, live music, and much more.
Roberta Burns, ArtFields’ marketing manager, says that after ten years, the event has achieved what it set out to do, and is now aiming even higher. “Our downtown is completely transformed and there are multiple viable businesses on Main Street that weren’t there ten years ago,” she says. “Looking forward, we know there is more work to be done to continue on this trajectory, and we’re so proud to have played a part in Lake City’s success.
Artfields, April 22-30, 2022. 118 Sauls St, Lake City, SC. (843) 374-0182, artfieldssc.org
