COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Mill District Public Art Trail is opening on Wednesday and will feature installations from 11 different South Carolina artists.
The tour is self-guided, so you can view the pieces at your own pace and learn about the history of the Columbia textile mills.
"I embroider, I stitch, I work with textiles," artist Susan Lenz explained.
She uses fabric to create art.
Through this method of expression, she's connecting with history in one of her most recent projects that is featured on the art trail.
"It was a way of stepping into history and getting a feel for how life would have been back when those mills were in full production," Lenz said.
Lenz's piece focuses on a young textile worker named Lola.
Lenz researched Lola and learned about her life in order to showcase it through her art installation.
"I was, through my work, bringing another woman who worked hard all of her life into public notice through this project," Lenz explained. "Lola worked in the textile mills and was very happy with her life there. She had nice clothes, a place to live, three meals a day and a job where she was making her own money."
Brittany Watkins also created an installation in one of the four guardhouses at the mill.
"When people approach the guardhouses, basically they want to look into the windows," Watkins suggested. "And it’s a bit of a voyeuristic experience because they can’t actually go inside of my piece, but I think that this is kind of indicative of looking into the life of that laborer."
Executive Director of 701 Contemporary Art Center Michaela Pilar Brown launched this project, which first started in 2017.
"We went through a planning process much of that had to do with meeting with community members, seeing what they wanted, how they wanted this history to be tied together, what kind of relationship they wanted to have to the artwork," Brown detailed. "[Now] we’re coming to the end of the first phase of the project with permanent installations and temporary installations."
After five years in the making, Brown says she's "excited to be able to offer this work to community, so excited for the artists who have been waiting. Waiting to complete their projects, waiting for an opportunity to show their projects."
She says tying history into the art is important.
"I think the mills feel very distant to people and the history of the mills feel very distant," Brown explained. "I think this is an opportunity for them to look in a really holistic way at the entire history. How the mills began, who worked in the mills, what happened during those changes, whose lives were supported by this activity, how the mills interacted with community, how long that lasted. There’s quite a remarkable history."
She's hoping this art trail helps explain some of that history. Tyler Boose lives nearby.
"I like that," Boose said about the trail's tie to history. "I don’t really know the history that well and I know it’s pretty cool so I’d like to learn more about it."
Theresa Wilson also lives in Olympia. She's excited to be right next to this new trail.
"I think it’s really cool to have that so close and to have the art life being kind of revived in Columbia," Wilson told me.
The trail aims not only to educate, but also to connect people from three different neighborhoods: Granby, Olympia and Whaley.
"Art really is about people - connecting people to ideas, having conversations," Brown shared. "So mostly it’s about connecting these communities…giving people a better way to live in Columbia."
Watkins agrees. She said art has the ability to bring people together through community events like the trail's unveiling.
"Just physically getting them out of their normal everyday to meet each other and start to have these conversations about something that may be a little different than what they experience everyday..." Watkins said. "I think that it’s a great tool for empathy and understanding and learning."
Samuel Stamps lives along the trail and is excited to build connections.
"It’s definitely good to be in a community where they’re trying to connect us and you feel like you’re part of the community," he said. "Like you’re not just here existing."
That’s what this trail is all about say the founders.
You can visit this public art trail starting Wednesday (9/7) morning.
Throughout the day, you can go on a self-guided tour.
For a map of all the pieces, click here.
On Wednesday night, there will be a kickoff event from 7 - 9 p.m. with a DJ and food trucks near the Olympia Mills guard houses.
Brown says the current art installations will be in place for a year. After that, a new round of applicants will be selected and new pieces will be exhibited.