This blog post was taken from a Facebook live on 4/24/22 with Roni and Emily from the Public Works Art Center in downtown Summerville, SC.



Roni:
Hey friends, Roni Haskell here with Keller Williams. And once again it's Friday, and today I'm so excited because I get to come to you live from the Summerville Art Center, it's here in the Public Works building. I've got Emily, who's one of the directors up here. And it's a big day here for the Art Center. Tell us about what's happening tonight.

Emily:
It's a big day, it's been a big week for us. We've been preparing for this for months, but tonight is our first fundraising gala. Very limited number of tickets, they are sold out, but we're hoping that it helps us raise money so we can keep doing what we're doing here. We are always free to visit. We are nonprofit 501 C3. We've got summer camps, classes. We can even rent out our space for events. We bring artsy, the artmobile out. What else?

Roni:
Yes. Yes. So I met Emily for the first time at the Flowertown Festival, which if you watch regularly, you will have seen, I highlighted a few weeks ago from the Flowertown Festival. And when I had my daughter out there with her little friend, we stopped at the artsy, the artmobile. It was so cute. They were doing colorful pinwheels for the kids. And so I sat there very patiently for quite a while. It was kind of nice to have a break though. And Emily was there helping the kids color and put their pinwheels together. But you all have everything here. You've got exhibits that rotate every six weeks, right?

Emily:
Three galleries, they change out every six weeks. They come back every month or so and it's all different. We also have 12 studio artists, so they have their own space. And if the door is open, pop in, see what they're working on. All different art mediums. What else?

Roni:
Yeah. Well, they got the art galleries or exhibits that rotate in and out. They've got yoga. I saw you all just started having yoga [crosstalk 00:01:47]-

Emily:
We do. We do yoga on Monday mornings-

Roni:
Monday mornings. Okay.

Emily:
Monday mornings 8:00 to 9:00 yoga, it's only $10. We try to do everything here either free or as low cost as possible. You can also learn pottery here. We have a pottery studio downstairs for kids and adults.

Roni:
Yeah. Birthday parties, you can rent the space out. So if you have a special event, that's going to be special. And so tonight, again, is the gala or a gala. I've put it both ways, depending on where in the country you're from. But tonight is going to be a huge event. It is sold out.

Emily:
It is sold out. If you didn't get your ticket, definitely get it early next year. But also you can still get in on our auction. We've got about 30 pieces for our art auction and all you have to do is, well, I'll find the instructions for you. Text Public Works to a number and then it'll [crosstalk 00:02:33]-

Roni:
We'll post that. We'll make sure to post that so that you can see the link. Also for more information about the Public Works Art Center, you can get onto publicworksartcenter.org.

Emily:
Yes. That's right.

Roni:
.org.

Emily:
Yes.

Roni:
And so you can learn more about the location here. But the neat thing, I mean, this building is historical too. I haven't been here long enough to have seen it as the post office, but it was once the original post office right here in Summerville.

Emily:
Built in 1937. Yeah.

Roni:
1937. And then when I first moved to Summerville, it was the water company. The Commissioners of Public Works water company was here for years and years.

Emily:
They were amazing in helping us acquire this building. We can't thank them enough. So when they moved down the street, a bunch of community leaders came together and said, "We have keep this in the community. Keep this building in the community." So now it is your Art Center. Always free to visit.

Roni:
It is. So it's one of the many, many reasons that families and visitors and all love Summerville. It's right here in the downtown section. We're on the corner of Cedar and Richardson. So it's easy to get to. Walkability to all the stores and the restaurants here in downtown Summerville. Perfect location, but just a neat contribution to our community here in Summerville. So let's go take a quick glance at one of the art studios. And so I will let you lead the way. And you're going to see behind the scenes set up here for what the event will be tonight.

Emily:
We're a little sweaty, a little.

Roni:
Yeah. They've been working hard, but take a look. And show them all of these flowers. Oh my gosh. And all of this was donated. All of the flowers were donated. I understand that the florist, what was her name?

Emily:
Gretchen Cuddy.

Roni:
Gretchen Cuddy. Shout out to Gretchen. Donated all the florals. But you're going to see, look at these things hanging from the ceiling. My friends that are going to be here tonight, [inaudible 00:04:19] one of the sponsors, one of the many community sponsors, but we are in for a treat. No doubt. So not only do we get to be in good company in a beautiful setting, looking at gorgeous artwork, but for some people it may even be their first time to get to come into the Art center. So anyways, but tell us about what we're seeing.

Emily:
So here is the art auction here, along all the walls. A bunch of amazing artists, most of them local. And so what you're going to do is you're going to text Public Works to 843-606-5995, and that helps you join. You can only bid between 6:30 and 10:00 PM. Cut off right at 10:00 PM. But these are just incredible. We've got Shepard Fairey over here. He is more than local, but he's local. He's done a few pieces.

Roni:
How beautiful. What do we know about this style? These are prints, correct?

Emily:
Those are prints, yes. Those are lithographs.

Roni:
They're just beautifully graphic.

Emily:
Yes. [crosstalk 00:05:21]-

Roni:
Here in Summerville we do have like a bird's theme that is around our town. Do you want to highlight on that? Do you know much about that Emily?

Emily:
Yeah. Sculpture In the South. Typically they're here in the vault here and they do bronze sculptures. So they've got a really fun, free activity. We've got the pamphlets here actually, you can grab. And you can go around downtown Summerville and find the birds that are all over hidden tucked in.

Roni:
Think of [crosstalk 00:05:41], but this is Sculpture In the South. They're bronze birds, a variety of bronze birds, all in their tucked away.

Emily:
It's a fun, free activity. Yeah.

Roni:
Yeah. Fronts of buildings and in parks and in all kinds of places.

Emily:
Yeah. Then we've got this big backdrop that's going to move outside. We have photos outside, but someone hand-dyed it for us with indigo. We do Indigo Dye Day twice a year, out in our back parking lot.

Roni:
Oh, look at these. This is a fun, beautiful art piece here. Gosh, I could see that.

Emily:
Cory Hines, she's got two pieces here up for auction.

Roni:
I could see that just being a ton of fun in a kids' playroom or even in an office building.

Emily:
We also have one item [crosstalk 00:06:22]. Absolutely gorgeous. That's Olivia Sangster, she's one of our instructors here and just so much detail. There's like tiny gold detail in it. It's just absolutely beautiful.

Roni:
So that's just some of the insight that you're going to get to share with us this evening if you're coming to the gala, and if not, please come and visit the Art Center. And it is open Tuesday through Saturday, right?

Emily:
That's right. Tuesday through Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. But we're open 10:00 to 5:00. Often later, we've got classes happening later than that. So come check us out.

Roni:
Come check them out. And they're always at different events. Like third Thursdays, they are open late. You all are huge contribution to our community and we appreciate you all so much, Emily.

Emily:
Thank you so much. It's my favorite place to be.

Roni:
She's been behind the scenes working a little bit.

Emily:
A little.

Roni:
I'm going to turn her loose to get back to business and I'll give you a quick market update. So you bet you. Thank you so much, Emily. Let's head back up here. Look at this. [inaudible 00:07:19]. Oh my gosh. How cool is that? With our little country bird there. Oh, here's another one that is gorgeous. So all of these are going to be on the auction block for tonight. But just a beautiful acrylic there.

Roni:
All right. Let's step out here. Let's talk about the market though for a minute because a lot of my viewers are interested in real estate and that's what I do each and every day and I look forward to always being your contributor knowledge source. If you are buying or selling real estate in the Charleston area, I look forward to working with you. If you know of somebody that is looking to buy or sell, please let them know about me. Share my information with them. I'd be honored and glad to assist. Make sure to comment below, if you have any questions as we go through this, and I'm always happy to reach out to you directly and be able to address any of those questions with you as well.

Roni:
All right. So our market is still peak. So we are in our spring selling season here in Charleston, which is a lot of fun, is a lot of activity, tons of flurry. Lots of listing appointments for me, which is always a great time. Buyers continue to come into the area. The economy is doing fantastic. So while the year to date sales are down about 8% for our area, that's kind of a national number as well, but here in the Charleston MLS, our sales are down by 8%. Our prices are up 14.3%. So that is supply and demand economics 101. Because we have lower inventory, we cannot keep the sales high. The demand is just out the roof right now.

Roni:
So if you're thinking about selling, now is a great time to do it. We will be able to work with you to find where your next place is going to be, but just know that the inventory sales are down, but the price range is up. All right? So we are honored always to help you. There's a lot of reasons why there are people moving to our area. And without getting into all those details, I want you to know that there is a strong demand here. So reach out and I'll be glad to help. 843-297-1935. You can always find me on social media and the web, @thatscrealestatechick. Have a great weekend.