Horizons: The Mary Hinson Flower Show featuring the art of Brian Rutenberg
June 13, 2025The Sumter County Gallery of Art presented "Horizons – the Mary Hinson Flower Show," an exhibition and flower show featuring the vibrant coastal landscapes of artist Brian Rutenberg. The show runs from April 17 to June 13, 2025, with a ticketed preview party on April 17, showcasing floral designs inspired by Rutenberg’s paintings and a judged flower show.
Brian Rutenberg, a renowned Myrtle Beach native and accomplished painter, is known for his richly colored landscape works capturing the essence of South Carolina’s coast, especially where land meets water. His work is included in major museums nationwide.
The event also features the Horticulture Division showcasing art by the Brown family, local artists in various mediums. The floral and horticulture exhibits will be open to the public on April 18 and 19.
On May 8, Rutenberg hosted an artist talk and book signing for his book "Clear Seeing Place." The gallery emphasizes its commitment to accessible community art experiences, with most activities free and ticketed events affordable. The event is supported by notable sponsors, including the Jerald Melberg Gallery, the Deane and Roger Ackerman Family Fund, and local businesses.
The Sumter County Gallery of Art (SCGA), the Deane and Roger Ackerman Family Fund and the Council of Garden Clubs of Sumter are pleased to present the Preview Party for “Horizons” – Sumter’s exhibition and flower show, featuring the mysterious and color saturated Lowcountry scenes of artist Brian Rutenberg. The Mary Hinson Flower Show opens with a ticketed event, Thursday, April 17th, 6 – 8 pm. It will be an evening of stunning beauty with sixteen regional floral designers responding to Rutenberg’s paintings in the Ackerman Gallery. This will be a judged flower show. Delicious food will be created by Loosh Culinaire Fine Catering, and spirits by locally owned, Toast Bartending. Music by guitarist Amos Hoffmann.
Brian Rutenberg, a Myrtle Beach native, is widely considered to be one of the finest American painters of his generation, Brian Rutenberg has spent forty years honing a distinctive method of compressing the rich color and form of his native coastal South Carolina into complex landscape paintings that imbue material reality with a deep sense of place. Rutenberg says, especially inspiring is that point when the land meets the water and for a moment the two become blurred – the Horizon. Rutenberg’s painting seethe with the familiar yet foreign components of the Lowcountry – moist, heavy air, nightcrawlers, pluff mud, ancient trees and the everchanging South Carolina coast.
Brian received his BFA in 1987 from the College of Charleston and his MFA in 1989 from the School of Visual Arts, New York. He is a Fulbright Scholar, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow, an Irish Museum of Modern Art visiting artist program participant and has had over a hundred museum and gallery exhibitions across the U.S. and abroad. Rutenberg's paintings are included in such museum collections as Yale University Art Gallery, The Butler Institute of American Art, Bronx Museum of Art, Peabody Essex Museum of Art, Greenville County Museum of Art, Provincetown Art Museum, Gibbes Museum, Morris Museum, South Carolina State Museum, and many others.
Sumter County Gallery of Art director, Karen Watson notes, that the Horizons team searched for just the right artist to provide the “creative canvas” for the floral designers to respond to. She believes that the Sumter audience, with their reverence for the South Carolina coast, will gravitate to Rutenberg’s work. For the second year in a row, the Sumter Gallery worked closely with Jerald Melberg Gallery in Charlotte, NC - one of the premiere galleries in the Southeast, to bring the art of Brian Rutenberg to Sumter. Jerald and Mary Melberg and their team were a dream to work with.
The Levi-Barnett gallery will be the site of the Horticulture Division of the Horizons Flower Show, and the exhibition “Family Affair, Dr. David & Linda Brown and Lindsay Brown-Dix”. The Brown family are all excellent artists working in different mediums. Linda works in oils, David works in watercolor and Lindsay, their daughter, works in ceramics. The Browns are very involved in the Sumter Arts Community and are longtime supporters of the gallery. Linda and David’s work are seen regularly in the annual Sumter Artists’ Guild Show and Lindsay’s installation “Alchemy” was juried into the 2024 ArtFields competition.
The floral design and horticulture divisions will be available for public viewing Friday, April 18th and Saturday, April 19th, 11 am - 5 pm. The exhibition runs through June 13th.
Brian Rutenberg will give an artist talk/presentation and book signing of “Clear Seeing Place” on Thursday, May 8th from 5:30-7: pm. Light refreshments will be served.
Watson further notes, that 80% of what we do in our community is free - from admission to our off-site community partnerships. We are committed to making creative opportunities and art accessible to all. Fundraisers are a challenge for our small staff, but we also love providing unique opportunities to our community. Tickets prices have also been lowered significantly to $40 for the opening reception. This elegant event – combining fine art, floral design, fine food and spirits, and music, is special for Sumter. The Sumter County Gallery of Art and Council of Garden Clubs of Sumter have worked hard to make this exhibition-based flower show a reality. We hope your interest will be sparked and you will purchase tickets and support the Sumter County Gallery of Art.
This special exhibition would not be possible without the significant support of the Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, NC, and our community sponsors. First and foremost, The Deane and Roger Ackerman Family Fund, Thompson Turner Construction Group, Smith Robinson Law, Carolina Concierge Care, Jones Chevrolet and Patricia & Michael Fernandez.
