Southport Magazine

Up Your Arts and the City of Southport are eager to welcome artists back to our beautiful town for the 2021 Southport Plein Air Festival June 18-19. Registrants have two full days this year to set up their easels and paint anywhere within city limits, then sell their work to the public during the Wet Paint Sale in Keziah Park at 4 pm on the last day.

Up Your Arts has added several new events for the general public this year. The classic rock band Back Porch Rockers will give a benefit performance on the gazebo stage at Franklin Square Park on Friday, June 18, from 6-8 pm. Donations will benefit the Save the Hall, Y’all campaign to transform the old city hall building in the heart of downtown Southport into an arts center.

Activities on Saturday, June 19, thanks to a grant from the Brunswick Arts Council, will showcase celebrated Gullah-Geechee storyteller, Anita Singleton-Prather on the gazebo stage at Keziah Park. She will perform every hour on the hour from 10 am-3 pm amid Kid’s Plein Air fun for children, live music, and local food trucks.

Singleton-Prather’s program will emphasize the influence of Gullah traditions in the Cape Fear region.  Kept alive by descendants of African slaves brought here to work on coastal rice and cotton plantations, Gullah-Geechee culture played a significant role in development of the area’s arts and crafts, music, food, language and religious observances. 

The stories will be supported by literature and maps illustrating the efforts currently underway to expand the federally designated Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor through Brunswick County, courtesy of the Brunswick County NAACP. Project head Brayton Willis will be on hand to answer questions.

The 2021 Southport Plein Air Festival is open to all painters, regardless of age. It is a non-juried event, with merit and People’s Choice awards conferred by established local artists. Winners will be registered in the 2022 Southport Plein Air Festival free of charge. There is no limit on medium, quantity or size. Artists receive 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of their work.

A reception for the visiting artists at the NC Maritime Museum of Southport from 4-6 pm on Friday, June 18, will feature Gullah cuisine. Up Your Arts will also host live music for the general public at Moore Street Market during the same time, along with a painting demonstration by local artist Joseph Bardani . The event’s judges are the guests of honor, along with Southport elected officials. 

When the plein air artists have wrapped up for the weekend, their freshly painted work will be on display at Keziah Park from 4-6 pm on Saturday, June 19. Come meet the painters during this Wet Paint Sale, discuss their techniques, and buy their art! You will be delighted to own some of the finest depictions of Southport landscapes and scenery available — many of the plein air artists have painted our town before and know precisely how to capture its charismatic charm. Don’t miss this opportunity –- you may get lucky and purchase an award winner! 

The Awards Ceremony starts at 4:30 pm during the Wet Paint Sale. City of Southport Mayor Joe Pat Hatem has top billing when he announces the recipient of his famous Mayor’s Award. You will have the opportunity to do the same by voting for the winner of the People’s Choice Award. The ballot you cast may be for the very same painter whose work is featured at the 2022 Southport Plein Air Festival! This year’s event features local artist and resident Rena Powell, who was the 2019 People’s Choice winner.