Video from OPEN 2010

Update September 8: The Charleston Regional Alliance for the Arts made it its mission to showcase non-profit art organizations and collectives that for years have been changing the cultural landscape of Charleston, creating a unique and rich cultural arts center. On Saturday, September 10, 2011, the Alliance kicks off Charleston’s fall arts season with the 2nd annual "OPEN” Arts Expo.

The multi-disciplinary arts event is free to the public and features the rich variety of arts experiences in the tri-county area with the greater goal of building arts audiences and breaking down barriers to participate in the joy and festivity of the arts. The event will take place from noon to 5:30 p.m. at the Memminger Auditorium in downtown Charleston, SC.

Attendees of the arts expo can expect a cultural marketplace of interactive arts booths providing information about programming and events; offering participatory activities and a selection of tickets to upcoming performances as well as memberships and merchandise.

Featured activities inside include: building Charleston's creative arts district with LEGOS; a family-fun-arts corner directed by Creative Spark Center for the Arts; a scheduled series of intimate performing art experiences "Revealing the Secrets of Art” and a video montage and premiere "360◦ view of Charleston's Arts."

First reporting: The Charleston Regional Alliance for the Arts invites local art organizations and collectives to participate in the 2nd annual OPEN, a multi-disciplinary art exposition that is open to the entire community.

Featuring the abundance of artistic and cultural offerings in the tri-county area, the event will take place on Saturday, September 10th, at the Memminger Auditorium in downtown Charleston. The registration deadline is July 22nd.

OPEN was created as an annual preview of the arts for local non-profit art organizations and collectives. Through this art expo, "participating organizations are given the opportunity to captivate, intrigue, and cultivate new audiences,” says Jessica Solomon Bluestein, executive director of the Alliance. “Last year’s event attracted 750 attendees, and although the art expo is targeting new audiences, loyal art enthusiasts and patrons mingled with art novices that are looking to explore music, dance, visual arts, theatre, and the literary arts.”

OPEN 2011 will include a cultural marketplace of interactive art booths, multimedia and stage presentations, a family fun corner and an open-air courtyard of vendors, street performers, and more. In addition, participants will receive:

• Free training to help them promote and sell their mission, programs, and events
• Space to present the "best" of their artistry and to engage with spectators
• An interactive booth to sell and promote their annual programming
• Networking and collaborating with other organizations and patrons from the tri-county area
• Collaborative arts marketing on national TV stations, radio, traditional and non-traditional media outlets, and out-of-the-box community outreach

To qualify, art organizations or collectives that consist of five or more artisans should be involved in one or more of the following art disciplines: music, dance, visual arts, theatre, and/or literary arts. Registration fee is $100. Interested parties should contact Jessica Solomon Bluestein at (843) 577-5288 or by email at jessica@artscharleston.org.