Young kids, old kids, art students, professors, Santa Claus and undercover ballers were all in attendance at Friday night’s opening reception of Buswater on the Boulevard.

The bottles were poppin’ all night long.

Buswater is unique because it truly places art from every kind of artist you can imagine in our surrounding area. While most of the exhibiting artists fit the bill of the microwave-burrito-eating, spend-my-tip-money-on-the-new-indie-dance-record kind of profile, there are established (if you can call WV professor’s wages established) art professionals, and area artists who have been at it a while also in the show.

Buswater happens twice a year, coinciding with FestivALL and to fit the holidays. It’s the only art event of it’s kind in Charleston for several reasons. While Buswater tends to sell a lot of work for artists, the pure nature of the show is not of any commercial value and stems from entirely a grassroots agenda. Every artists pitches in their small fee to exhibit, and the funds go to all the expenses. It’s decidely an academic show, with a refreshing blend of high and low art. Of all the varying styles and mediums exhibited, it’s amazing how a cohesive element to the exhibit begins to form.

While it takes a village to put a show like this together, the original three are Todd Griffith, Jamie Miller, and Betty Gay. The house is available from Todd’s grandfather Doran Frame, in attempts to rustle up some awareness of the availability of all three properties on the boulevard. For upcoming holiday shows, the crew likes the idea of exhibiting local artists. For the summer FestivAll exhibits, the crew would like to expand to include a combination of local folks and national artists who haven’t shown in Charleston.

Todd Griffith supplied the upcoming photographs for Fresh Paint. His work can be seen at www.ToddGriffithPhotography.com, as well as photos from past Buswater shows. Jamie Miller’s work can be seen at JamieRMiller.com.

Installation Shots:

Shannon Pierson’s ceramic sculpture, Mark Earnhardt’s petrified cat litter box:

Bo Ballard’s mixed media paintings, Stacy Leech’s prints-turned-stitched sculptures:

Joey Elswick’s collages:

a Jamie Miller painting:

Metro, archival photograph taken in Prague, Todd Griffith:

Rob Cleland, framed painting (housepaint) on BFK, grid of 12 x 12 inch paintings:

Jeff Pierson’s reconstructed action figures AKA C3PO’s head on He-Man’s Chest with Austin Power’s agents’ legs:

Art-Goers:

Amanda Jane Miller, Meaghan, and Young (pre Milwaukee’d out):

This little girl just had to wait her turn; Santa was busy:

Big ups to Trader Joes:

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