Corrie Parker McCALLUM

1914 - 2009  (95 years)

• Name	Corrie Parker McCALLUM  [1, 2, 3]
  Birth	1914	Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina   [1, 4]
  Gender	Female
  Education	she received formal training at the University of South Carolina in COlumbia, south Carolina, and at the Boston Museum School of Art
  HIST	She is a Sumter, South Carolina, native. She and Elizabeth (artist in Sumter, South Carolina) are cousins. She also has great-grandchildren- Duncan Eisen-Slade, Malcolm Slade and Laura Slade- who are their parents? jkh Date Published: May 13, 2004 Lifetime of art McCallum retrospective features 65 years' work in various media Photo provided Corrie McCallum, a Sumter native, is one of the country's most respected artists. A retrospective of her work opens at the Sumter Gallery of Art May 18. love from 208 By IVY MOORE Item Features Editor ivym@theitem.com Sumter native Corrie McCallum returns to her hometown next week for a retrospective exhibition of her works that will hang at the Sumter Gallery of Art through June. "'1939-2001 Corrie McCallum: Expressions of Life, A Retrospective' is an exhibition I've wanted to do since I was chairman of the board (of the SGA)," said gallery Executive Director Susan Doherty Osteen. McCallum is one of South Carolina's most visible and respected artists and is often called "the first lady of painting in Charleston." Recognized as a driving force in South Carolina arts and arts education for more than half a century, she was awarded the 2003 Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts. This is considered the highest honor awarded for the arts in South Carolina. "Knowing that she was originally from Sumter, I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if we could get her to have an exhibition here?'" Osteen said. "I worked on it for a while, and then one day her son, David Halsey, called me. He said he'd heard what a wonderful new facility we have here and that he'd be happy to have her come for an exhibition." The retrospective features works in various media by the renowned artist. "This impressive show will feature more than 45 works from the artist's private collection, many of which have never been exhibited publicly before," said Osteen. "There are watercolors, lithographs, oils, linoleum cuts, acrylics and three-dimensional sculptures included." Chris Moore / The Item This painting from the "Wow" series in January, 2000, is acrylic on canvas. Artist and Sumter native Corrie McCallum began painting abstracts after the death of her husband, artist William Halsey, in 1999. Osteen said that McCallum will be here for the opening reception, set for 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 18. Prior to the public reception, Sumter Mayor Joe McElveen will present the artist with the key to the city. "I'm so excited to be able to have her here, and to have this wonderful exhibition," Osteen said. Born in Sumter in 1914, McCallum was cousin to another well-known Sumter artist, Elizabeth White, though White never gave much encouragement to her younger relative. McCallum received formal training at the University of South Carolina in Columbia and at the Boston Museum School of Art. In 1942 McCallum and her late husband, the noted artist William Halsey, moved to Charleston where she is credited with organizing the arts school at the Gibbes Museum and with creating the first arts curriculum for the public schools in Charleston. A respected teacher and arts administrator, McCallum's art has also won acclaim and many awards, scholarships and fellowships, including a 1968 Hughes Travel Grant, which allowed her to journey solo around the globe to find inspiration for her talents. Her style and choices of media vary widely and reflect the world she experiences, a world that has changed greatly over the more than seven decades she has chronicled it through art. This is the second time a retrospective of McCallum's work has been shown at the Sumter Gallery of Art. In 1995, 28 of her works were exhibited at the gallery's former location, which was also the home of the late Elizabeth White. This new show incorporates an expanded collection of works ranging from sketches drawn by McCallum while still living in Sumter to her series of brightly colored abstract paintings completed following the 1999 death of her husband. Chris Moore / The Item "Outskirts, Charleston, 1939" is one of the earliest McCallum paintings in the Sumter Gallery of Art's retrospective of the artist's work. The medium is casein on paper. The exhibition opens May 18 with a reception at 6:30 p.m. After her formal studies, McCallum lived and painted in Mexico with Halsey for several years. Since 1942 she has lived in Charleston and been exhibited throughout the U.S. and abroad. Her work is included in the collections of the Columbia Museum of Art, the Mint Museum and Louisiana State University, among others. As an arts educator, she has taught at the Charleston School of Art (which she founded with her husband and sculptor Williard Hirsch), Newberry College, The Telfair Academy in Georgia and the Gibbes Art Gallery (now Museum). She helped found the Guild of S.C. Artists in 1950, and in 1960 became the Gibbes Art Gallery's first professional Curator of Arts Education, bringing art to more than 20,000 children in public schools yearly. McCallum was included in the first edition of Who's Who in American Women in 1959, and in the 1960s, she revived the art form of printmaking, through studies and experimentation with her first printmaking teacher, Jasper Johns. In recognition of her contributions to the medium, the Southern Graphics Council named McCallum Printmaker Emeritus in 1984. At 90 years of age, Corrie McCallum continues to make art almost every day. "Corrie McCallum is a national treasure who happens to live in South Carolina," said Mark Sloan, director and senior curator, Halsey Gallery, College of Charleston. The Sumter Gallery of Art and UBS present "1939-2001 Corrie McCallum: Expressions of Life, A Retrospective," May 18-June 30. The exhibition will open with a public reception on Tuesday, May 18, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday, 2-5 p.m. The gallery is closed on Sunday and Monday. Admission to the gallery and to this reception are free. For more information, call 803-775-0543. Reach Features Editor Ivy Moore at ivym@theitem.com or 803-774-1221.  [3, 4]
  Occupation	she taught at the Charleston (South Carolina) School of Art, which was founded with Halsey and WIllard Hirsch  [4]
  _UID	AE87F57315464004A24911D3DCA1312AE31B
  Death	2 Mar 2009
  Person ID	I184455	Singleton and Related Families
  Last Modified	13 Mar 2009

  
  

  Father	David Ramsay McCALLUM, Jr.,   b. 7 May 1883   d. 6 Aug 1949, Sumter District, South Carolina (Age 66 years)
  Mother	Eunice “Emmie” PARKER
  Marriage	Sumter County, South Carolina   [1]
  _UID	2EC9B8D69BE544C184080B177ECB63B216FF
  _UID	2EC9B8D69BE544C184080B177ECB63B216FF
  Family ID	F125349	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	William Melton “Bill” HALSEY
  Marriage	1939  [2]
  _UID	22B7930780484D969948432EC90ABF3436CA
  _UID	22B7930780484D969948432EC90ABF3436CA
  Children	1. David Ashley HALSEY,   b. Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina   2. Louise HALSEY   3. Paige HALSEY
  Family ID	F125361	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Jul 2006

  
  

• Sources

  [S7215] . [S7216] . [S11898] Sumter native Corrie McCallum returns to her hometown next week for a retrospective exhibition of her works that will hang at the Sumter Gallery of Art through June. [S11897] Renowned artist McCallum dies at 94.