July | 2015 | Art Everyday

I recently spent a long weekend in Greenville, SC with good friends Bruce and Alice Schlein. I was there to attend the opening of “Surfaces and Spaces: Photography of Cecelia Feld & Bruce Schlein”, our exhibit at the Pickens County Museum, about thirty miles from Greenville.

Bruce gave us a tour of the area between Greenville and Spartenburg which was once home to a large number of thriving textile mills, now mostly in various stages of decrepitude. The remains of these large buildings make interesting photographic subjects. Some of them are experiencing new life as condominium buildings.

Bradford Mills, for example, is undergoing renovation. The finished part is now the Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) with classrooms and exhibition spaces. It is a welcome addition to the Greenville Arts scene. The rest of the mill will be condos.

Beautiful old glass and window fittings in the GCCA make the space special.

Brandon Mills-Inside GCCA

GCCA

Another mill, Glendale Mills in Spartenburg, occupied a large area on the water at Glendale Shoals. The remains of one of the buildings and foundations of others give one a sense of how large this complex was.

Glendale Mills

Glendale Shoals

Glendale Mills

So much for the Mills. Now, for the “More.”

Here are a few more of Bruce’s graffiti laden walls. As I notice and photograph markings and notations on streets and sidewalks near and far, Bruce’s discerning eye lights on walls and spaces filled with all kinds of drawings and symbols. In his photos the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but look closely at the details.