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Visual Arts

Employees in the Visual Arts are involved in the production of works experienced primarily through the sense of sight, such as paintings, drawings, photographs, and fashion. Employees in the Visual Arts include those who produce the works and those who support the production and presentation, such as curators of museums and art instructors.
Content Type
Touch the Earth  | A Natural State
   - Episode 3 Piccolo Labyrinth | A Natural State 1

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Piccolo Labyrinth | A Natural State
Episode 1
Herb Parker's Piccolo Labyrinth, a nature-based sculpture of grass, sod and steel rebar, created a temporary, "quiet, contemplative space" on Charleston's waterfront. As an installation, the sculpture...
 Spotlight 1

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Spotlight
Episode 1
Like many traditional crafts, brooms are functional items that have beautiful and thought-provoking qualities. Weaving and sewing techniques attach the broom straw to the handle, while allowing Peter...
Land - Robert Middleton | A Natural State
   - Episode 9 Process of Making Batik 2

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Process of Making Batik
Episode 2
Arianne uses the batik process of fabric design, a traditional art she mastered while living with the Yoruba culture of Nigeria. Batik uses wax and layers of color to create vibrant images on textiles...
 Piccolo Labyrinth 2

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Piccolo Labyrinth
Episode 2
Piccolo Labyrinth required two weeks of construction under a hot sun and the constant gaze of curious onlookers. Parker and his team of volunteers and students cut thousands of turf squares, stacking...
 Making a Duck Decoy 2

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Making a Duck Decoy
Episode 2
Tom uses keen eyes and a drawknife to carve the slope of a duck's back from the natural curve along a block of white cedar. The basic forms of a tail and the base of the neck are revealed during body...
 Spotlight 1

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Spotlight
Episode 1
The ability to work with wood was an asset on rural farms where lifestyles required self-sufficiency and living off the land was common. As a boy, Tom carved his toys - small boats that he floated...
Land - Robert Middleton | A Natural State
   - Episode 9 Land 10

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Land
Episode 10
Live oaks with broad, lumbering branches and beards of Spanish moss are a common sight in South Carolina’s coastal area. The tree’s resistance to wind and sea spray buffer the coast from seasonal...
Land - Robert Middleton | A Natural State
   - Episode 9 Spotlight 1

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Spotlight
Episode 1
Arianne grew up in a landscape of gardens, farms and the sea near Virginia Beach, Virginia. As a "child of nature," Arianne found an artistic release through dance and drawing. Arianne later studied...
 Topiary 113

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Topiary
Episode 113
Most common topiary plants are evergreen and have small, dense leaves and branches; such as boxwood, yew and holly bushes. But Pearl says, "Anything that can be pruned can be shaped," which explains...
 Spotlight 101

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Spotlight
Episode 101
Is topiary an attempt to control nature or a form of expression using a nature-based medium? The word topiary is derived from the Greek root word, topias, meaning ornamental garden. An account by...
Phil Greene's Wood Barn | A Natural State
   - Episode 4 Wood Canoe 2

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Wood Canoe
Episode 2
In June 2002, an 18th century Cherokee canoe was found in the cold clear water of the Chattooga River. Early Cherokee canoes called dugouts were burned and scraped out of single tree trunks. The...
 Topiary Garden 103

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Topiary Garden
Episode 103
Hedges and trees in Pearl's garden appear to flow and weave into one another, often making it difficult to see where one plant ends and another begins. The effect is created by tying the tips of...
Phil Greene's Wood Barn | A Natural State
   - Episode 4 Spotlight 1

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Spotlight
Episode 1
A typical Phil Greene canoe is a Spotlight of exotic and indigenous woods that were cut, sanded, carved and refined for six months or more. The canoes combine sculptural details with practical design...
 The Land 115

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The Land
Episode 115
After living in New York and Atlanta, Pearl followed his job with a packaging company to rural Bishopville, South Carolina. Though Pearl had no family in the area, he literally "put roots" down after...
 Spotlight 1

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Spotlight
Episode 1
The city of Sumter invited artists to experiment with nature-based art during its the Art in the Park event. Nature-based art is sculpture that uses natural materials, often materials found on-site...
 Pulp Paper Process 10

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Pulp Paper Process
Episode 10
Nancy Basket processes Kudzu fibers to make pulp paper for her distinctive art. Please note that Nancy is a trained professional, who uses equipment or procedures that would not be considered safe...
 Touch the Earth 5

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Touch the Earth
Episode 5
The nature-based art form blends natural materials, manmade construction and landscape into mysterious expressions of our relationship to the earth. The Serpent Mound in Ohio attributed to the Adena...
Dedication | A Natural State
   - Episode 3 Spotlight 1

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Spotlight
Episode 1
Since the early 1970s, Nils-Udo has reshaped the land to achieve "absolute purity," where, "every non-natural element is ruled out as impure. No other materials are used but those found in each...