Ben and Lyn are great members of the Old Town art lineup, and we love having them as part of the mix. It is rare to have their level of artistic expertise in a small town like Bluffton. We've hosted portraitists, among others, over the years, and the level of art that they provide for the community is a rare treat.
The Red Piano Art Gallery
From Old Town Bluffton Inn
| By Car | 1 Minutes |
| By Walk | 5 Minutes |
Details
| Address | |
| Phone | +1 843-247-2049 |
| Website | |
| Hours | Sunday: Closed |
Photo by @redpianoartgallery
South Carolina's oldest professional fine art gallery has been here since 1969, and it now sits up a flight of stairs on Calhoun Street, with work by some of the best painters and sculptors in the country on its walls. It is free to walk into, and nobody will hover. Five minutes from our front door.
The name comes from a piano. When Alan and Mary Palmer opened the gallery in July 1969, just after the first Heritage golf tournament, they were collectors and jazz people first. Alan had been an illustrator for Coca-Cola and played the saxophone, and the early openings were champagne receptions around a red piano, which in those days meant hot jazz. Sales were thin at the start, and the Palmers took to calling the business the piano in the red, which says a lot about how the whole thing was run. It became a weekly gathering place for a group of artists known as the Round Table, and over the decades the walls have held work by Andrew Wyeth. Ben and Lyn Whiteside have owned it since 1994, and in 2015 they folded Morris and Whiteside Galleries into it. What you walk into now, on the second floor of a building on Calhoun Street, is more than fifty years of that history in a quiet, well-lit room with a river town going about its business outside the windows.
Photo by @explorebluffton
The work is representational American painting, drawing, and sculpture, which is to say you will recognize what you are looking at, and the standard is high enough that people fly in for it. The painters include Jonathan Green, whose Gullah scenes are among the most recognizable images to come out of this coast, along with Mary Whyte, Stephen Scott Young, West Fraser, Mark Boedges, and Rhett Thurman. The sculptors have included Glenna Goodacre, who made the Vietnam Women's Memorial in Washington and designed the Sacagawea dollar, and Jane DeDecker and Sandy Scott. The show changes throughout the year, and openings are worth timing a visit around, so check the gallery's news and events page before you come. Admission is free, browsing is genuinely welcome, and if you do fall for something, they will talk you through it properly and arrange shipping. One practical note. The gallery is upstairs at Suite 201, next to the Cottage Café and above Gigi's, and the entrance is on the left side of the building off the courtyard, which catches out first-timers.
Explore
Old Town Bluffton Inn
Amenities
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High Speed Wifi
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L'Occitane en Provence
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Hair Dryers
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Steamer/Iron Combo
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Bath Robes and Slippers*
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In-Room Safe
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55in Standard TV
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Alarm Clock with Outlets
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White Noise Machine
Photo by @redpianoartgallery
Why Visit
We recommend the gallery to anyone who likes art but doesn't want to spend a day getting to it. Museum-quality American work, five minutes on foot, free, and open six days a week.
- South Carolina's oldest professional fine art gallery, founded in 1969 and still run by the same owners since 1994, which is unusual longevity in a business where galleries come and go
- Nationally collected painters and sculptors on the walls, including Jonathan Green, Mary Whyte, Stephen Scott Young, and the late Glenna Goodacre, whose public work stands on the National Mall
- Rotating shows and openings through the year, so the room is different in March than it is in November and a second visit is never the same visit
- Free to walk in, with no pressure to buy and staff who will happily talk about the work whether or not you are collecting
- A jazz-age origin story worth knowing before you go, right down to why there is a red piano in the name
- Five minutes on foot from your room, in the middle of a stretch of Calhoun Street with the Society of Bluffton Artists, Maye River Gallery, and lunch all within a couple of blocks, so it slots into a morning rather than eating one
Related places to visit
The Cottage
A charming cafe, bakery, and tea room serving breakfast, lunch, and house-made desserts.
GiGi’s
A sister-run Calhoun Street boutique for contemporary Lowcountry style at every age.
Maye River Gallery
An Old Town gallery featuring a rotating collection of work by area artists.
Follow @BlufftonInn
Follow us on Instagram for a glimpse into daily life at the Inn
Follow @BlufftonInn
Follow us on Instagram for a glimpse into daily life at the Inn