Rattlesnake Art Foundation will host a panel discussion in Greenville on October 19, 2024 on “Greenville Arts Past and Present” as part of the release activities for the 8th volume of Rattlesnake Art Magazine. SC Humanities supported this program with a Mini Grant.
Rattlesnake is a bi-annual arts and literary magazine and 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Greenville, SC. They showcase exceptional underground art, particularly from artists in the Carolinas. Their mission is to provide support and recognition to independent creators and provide a voice to overlooked artists.
The newest issue of Rattlesnake will launch on Saturday, October 19 at 6:00 p.m. at Velo Fellow in Greenville, SC. The event will include a panel discussion about the historical and current role of art and art publications in building community in South Carolina and will include scholars Dr. Kevin Kao (Associate Professor of Art at Furman University) and Dr. Jeffrey Makala (Archivist at Furman University) and artists Aaron Arco and Anna Bowman. The panel discussion will be recorded and placed on a website for future viewing.
Kevin Kao is an artist and educator creating work addressing individuality, the body, and the collective experience. Drawing from a background in biology and ecology, he sculpts figure-ish forms as an intersection of nature, taste and objectification. He maintains an active artistic practice and exhibits work nationally, including a recent solo exhibition, with Breath, at the Kranzberg Arts Center in 2021. Born in California, Kao has lived and worked across the country, attending the University of Tennessee, Knoxville for graduate studies. Prior to joining Furman in Fall 2021, he served on faculty at McKendree University and Coker College. At Furman, he is responsible for teaching and developing the curriculum within the 3D disciplines of the Art Department. He particularly enjoys teaching ceramics and sculpture as necessary frameworks for students to comprehend and represent the world around them.
Jeffrey Makala is Associate Director of the Library for Special Collections and University Archivist. A literary and book historian who studies the literature and culture of the 19th century United States, he has written on nineteenth-century American literature and book history in the Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, Literature & History, Printing History, and The Oxford Companion to the Book. He is the co-editor of Archive: South Carolina Poetry Since 2005 (Ninety-Six Press, 2018); and coedited the first comprehensive anthology of American literature about dogs: In Dogs We Trust: An Anthology of American Dog Literature (University of South Carolina Press, 2019); His latest book, Publishing Plates: Stereotyping and Electrotyping in Nineteenth Century US Print Culture was published by Penn State University Press in January 2023. Over the past 25 years, he has worked in libraries at the University of Illinois, Wesleyan University, and the University of South Carolina. He teaches a Furman OLLI class on the history of books and printing, speaks widely on Furman history, and regularly welcomes classes into Special Collections to engage directly with books, manuscripts, and objects of cultural heritage.
Learn more about Rattlesnake Art Foundation: https://www.rattlesnake.press/.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c)3 organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos, and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
