Exhibit looks at dwindling architecture

Explore the sites, tastes and sounds before, during and after the Great Depression in South Carolina during "Abandonment and Rediscovery: The Vanishing Architecture of Central South Carolina," an art exhibit presented by the Rivers, Rails and Crossroads Discovery Center beginning Saturday, Feb. 28 from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The drop-in reception includes a meet and greet with the artists, Southern-style refreshments, blues harmonica player Walter Liniger and local Barnwell County resident Barbara Still will speak. The art exhibit features paintings by Janet Kozachek and photographs by Nathaniel Wallace, both local artists. The artwork includes historic buildings in South Carolina, including the Shamrock Hotel in Blackville.

"For over 10 years, as South Carolina has been developing, a lot of fields and wooded areas have been cleared.¬ Many times these places are visible for just weeks before they are then bulldozed down.¬ We admire the artistry that went into making these places - the hand-hewn locks, the split timbers and the painted designs. So we have been documenting them before they are destroyed," said Kozachek.

Kozachek is an internationally trained and exhibited artist. She received her Master of Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design in New York and studied Chinese writing, painting and seal carving at the Beijing Central Art Academy in China. In addition to painting, Kozachek is a well-known mosaic artist and the founding president for the Society of American Mosaic Artists. Her work is displayed in establishments such as the Morris Museum of Art, the South Carolina State Museum, the Columbia Museum of Art, the I.P. Stanback Museum, the Calhoun County Museum and numerous private collections.

Nathaniel Wallace is, by vocation, a professor of English at South Carolina State University. His interest in photography began when he lectured in mainland China and continued during his visit to the Camargo Foundation in southern France. Inspired by the geological formations, vineyards, agriculture and crumbling architecture, Wallace sought to capture the equally exquisite photographic opportunities in South Carolina

For more information, visit www.sc-heritagecorridor.org or call (803) 284-3976. The Rivers, Rails and Crossroads Discovery Center is located at 87 Heritage Road off Highway 78 in Blackville.