North Charleston Arts Fest Reveals 2020 Design Competition Winner

Press Release

The City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce Christine Bush Roman of Johns Island, SC, as the winner of the 2020 North Charleston Arts Fest Poster Design Competition.  As the winner of the statewide contest, Bush Roman’s mixed media painting, titled Oak Circus, will be used to promote the 2020 North Charleston Arts Fest, taking place April 29-May 3.  In addition, the artist was awarded a $500 cash prize and the piece has become part of the City of North Charleston’s Public Art Collection. 

Oak Circus was one of 75 entries by artists from 17 cities across South Carolina that were submitted for consideration for the 2020 North Charleston Arts Fest Poster Design Competition. Christine created the painting specifically for the Arts Fest using acrylic, ink, pastel, and fabric. “When beginning this piece, I knew I wanted to illustrate the vibrancy and emotion of all kinds of creators coming together to share their work,” she says. “I began the painting with the simplified image of an oak tree spreading its branches because the oak is such a well-known visual for the Lowcountry. The tree is also an iconic symbol across many cultures of growth, transformation, unity, and enlightenment. I wanted all the other elements of the painting to react to the tree. Setting the tone of celebration, the colors and rhythm hint at all of the different art forms highlighted during the North Charleston Arts Fest.”

Christine Bush Roman received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting from the University of Georgia in 2006 and returned to earn a Master of Fine Arts in the same concentration in 2013. She actively exhibits her paintings in solo and group shows both regionally and nationally. Rooted in drawing and painting, and oftentimes some elements of collage, her vibrant and dynamic works are executed in a variety of media with an emphasis on bright color, texture, pattern, and symbolism. Christine’s sincere affection for process and working with materials is revealed in the chunky, scraped, bumpy, gritty, and messy surfaces of her paintings. “Each piece endures hours of layering, destroying, and recreating,“ she explains. The improvisation and intuitive nature of Christine’s work is guided both by the materials and the concept. When utilizing collage techniques, she chooses to only use personal or recycled materials because of her belief that the previous life of the fabric or paper used informs the direction of the work. Most often inspired by ideas of our perception of self, her colorful and busy paintings reflect a compressed narrative of an ever-changing personality; acting as illustrations of an inner story full of ups and downs, constant change, and growth. Her works are about how we are constantly being shaped by where we live, people we know, and major life events. Christine currently creates in her home studio in Johns Island, SC, and instructs art classes for One HEART Connection and Art in the Park Art Lab, both in Charleston, SC. To learn more about the artist, visit ChristineBushRoman.com.

A collection of Bush Roman’s mixed media paintings will be on display at the North Charleston City Gallery throughout May 2020. The exhibit will feature her winning piece, Oak Circus. The gallery is located within the Charleston Area Convention Center at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. Admission and parking are free. The public is invited to meet the artist at the gallery during the North Charleston Arts Fest Opening Celebration & Artist Reception on Wednesday, April 29, 2020, from 6:00-8:00pm. T-shirts and posters featuring the winning design will be available for purchase during the festival.

For more information about the North Charleston Arts Fest, other competition and exhibition opportunities, or festival sponsorship, on-site marketing opportunities, and program booklet ad placement, contact the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at (843)740-5854, email culturalarts@northcharleston.org, or visit NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com.

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