The Guild of Beaufort Galleries invites the community to welcome and celebrate spring and the warmer weather with the 2013 Spring Art Walk. Member galleries will be open on Friday, April 19 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and will feature varied styles and mediums of art for all tastes. Admission is always free and refreshments are always served.  Guild of Gallery maps are available at each gallery.  The following is a list of galleries and their spring specialties:

<b>USCB Center for the Arts:</b> 801 Carteret St. is featuring an exhibit of Lowcountry Artists. The exhibit showcases the work of over thirty local artists working in a variety of mediums.

<b>Charles Street Gallery:</b> 914 Charles St. Located in a restored, historic, two story house; the gallery exhibits an eclectic mix of paintings and photography. The gallery also displays a changing exhibit of Japanese antiques.

[caption id="attachment_10696" align="alignleft" width="148"]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Chicken2_BayStGal.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-10696" alt="&quot;Chicken&quot; at Bay Street Gallery" src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Chicken2_BayStGal-148x300.jpg" width="148" height="300" /></a> "Chicken" at Bay Street Gallery[/caption]

<b>BAA Gallery:</b>  913 Bay Street. Beaufort Art Association Gallery exhibits the work of over 100 local “exhibiting member” artists and has a frequently changing display of artwork in all mediums. The gallery is currently featuring “Water, Water ... Everywhere” an exhibit centered on the theme of water by South Carolina artist Mac Rogers. Rogers, best known for his images of Lowcountry life, has added paintings from his travels to Venice, England and the Mediterranean.   An active artist will be painting and answering questions as well.

<b>The Craftseller:</b> 818 Bay Street. The Craftseller displays an extensive collection of fine American crafts. Artists from over thirty states exhibit work in many different mediums. Shoppers can expect to find an abundance of items from jewelry, textiles, ceramics, wood, glass, candles, and kaleidoscopes to print artists.

<b>I Pinckney Simons Gallery:</b> 711 Bay Street. South Carolina native Madeline Dukes is the gallery’s featured artist for the month of April. Madeline’s beautiful oil landscapes capture the soothing atmosphere of the marsh and the lush flora of the Lowcountry. Madeline completes her work employing a process of observation of nature, color, form and most importantly, light. The gallery displays an eclectic and diverse mix of fine paintings, sculpture, jewelry and photography in addition to hand sculpted furnishings. I. Pinckney Simons, founded in 1979, features a large selection of original art by 35 award winning artists.

<b>Ly Benson’s Gallery and Studio:</b> 211 Charles Street. The gallery features quality Zimbabwe Shona Verdite sculptures, African-American and African art, Gullah and Lowcountry folk art, art and photographs for discerning collectors. Featured artists include: Geraldine Smith, Rev. Johnnie Simmons and Mucha Kachidza. In addition to its regular offerings, the gallery is featuring an exhibit in conjunction with the Tabernacle Baptist Church’s 150th Anniversary Celebration titled: “The Life and Times of Congressman Robert Smalls 1839-1915” and invites

[caption id="attachment_10697" align="alignright" width="196"]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Palmetto_Island_Sunset.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-10697" alt="“Palmetto Island Sunset” is from the I Pinckney Simons Gallery. " src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Palmetto_Island_Sunset-196x300.jpg" width="196" height="300" /></a> “Palmetto Island Sunset” is from the I Pinckney Simons Gallery.[/caption]

the community to visit their Robert Smalls room. Smalls, born a slave in Beaufort became a Civil War hero and was later elected to Congress; he died in 1915 and was buried at the Tabernacle Church in Beaufort.

<b>Bay Street Gallery:</b> 719 Bay Street. Bay Street Gallery will be presenting New Works by Murray Sease. Sease’s paintings insightfully depict the rhythms of Lowcountry life and exhibit energetic brushstrokes and explosive color. Visitors will enjoy her latest “Farmer’s Market series and her marvelous “Chickens.” The Bay Street Gallery also features original works by fourteen premier Southeastern artists as well as sculpture, silk handbags, silver jewelry and sweetgrass baskets.

<b>The Gallery:</b> 802 Bay Street. Owner Deanna Bowdish invites people to join her for a fun evening of all the things we love; good times, great art and flowing libations. The Gallery is a vibrant space which offers contemporary creations including oil on canvas; bronze, stone and ceramic sculpture; acrylic and ink on paper; photography and works in glass and wood. The Gallery invites the community to check out the new creations from more than 60 local and regional artists.

<b>Indigo Gallery:</b> 809 Bay Street. Indigo Gallery features the artwork of nationally known landscape painter Peter Pettigrew and local artists Sandra Bagette, Alison Crossman, Janet Mozley, Gloria Dalvini Linda Kirsten Cole and Polly Swenson as well as fine custom framing. Many of Indigo Gallery’s artists have a love for the Lowcountry’s landscape and are avid “plein air” painters.

<b>The Rhett Gallery:</b> 901 Bay Street. The Rhett Gallery offers prints and paintings by four generations of Rhett family artists. The gallery offers originals and prints in addition to wildfowl carvings by William M. Rhett, antique prints and maps, Audubons and Civil War material and receives new work on a regular basis.