ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce's president James McQuilla is hoping to increase tourism in Orangeburg County with art.
"Everybody thinks of Charleston's art festival and all of the arts there," McQuilla said. "I want Orangeburg to become the mecca in the community and what arts can be capable of."
He and local artist Jasmyne Wall are developing a project that will turn old dilapidated buildings or private property in the county's 17 towns into unique works of art.
"The idea of 17 Bright Spots came about where we would look to highlight a specific place in each one of the towns and turn that into a social media game with the Chamber of Commerce," McQuilla explained.
"Right now, what we have is very abstract that's non-representational," said Wall. "We want to allow the art to speak for itself and the colors be an inspiration as lively as it already is."
The Chamber of Commerce is looking for people from the private sector to donate additional buildings for the project. McQuilla and Wall are hoping to start before the end of the year. The first town they're looking to start is in Orangeburg.
"When people see this, they will see a building that's painted unusual like neon green or lavender," said Wall. "It's art, and they can tell that intentionally painted that way for them to do something outside of the box."
