Brookgreen Gardens lights up the summer nights with stunning exhibition

Brookgreen Gardens lights up the summer nights with stunning exhibition

Summer nights on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast are always extraordinary, but a new exhibition at Brookgreen Gardens will add even more beauty to Southern nights on the coast.

Brookgreen Gardens, the world-renown 90-year-old sculpture garden located in Murrells Inlet, is showcasing a new after-hours lighted art exhibition series titled “Summer Light: Art by Night.” The new exhibit will light up the gardens on Wednesday and Saturday evenings through Aug. 13. Nine lighted art installations will be displayed throughout the gardens for an opportunity to explore and experience Brookgreen like never before.

Brookgreen is located on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast, south of Myrtle Beach and north of Charleston.

Through the heart of the sculpture garden, visitors will be surrounded by the magic of Brookgreen Gardens after dark. From the 800 upcycled chandeliers and 900 wine bottle alcoves, people will experience Oak Allee and Beyond the Garden Wall with stunning light displays while immersing themselves with sounds, the exquisite Conway Glass display, the “blooming flora” in the Children’s Garden, and more. “Summer Light: Art by Night” will truly showcase the gardens as never before.

“This is the perfect opportunity for guests to immerse themselves and be mesmerized by the stunning landscapes, sculptures, and gardens that Brookgreen has to offer, in a whole new light,” said Page Kiniry, Brookgreen’s president and CEO.

Created by Brookgreen’s Public Exhibits Production and Logistics team, led by Manager Janet Coen. It’s the same team that designs Brookgreens’ most-popular exhibit, the holiday-inspired “Nights of a Thousand Candles.”

For “Summer Light,” the following nine light installations will be illuminated throughout the sculpture gardens:

1. Cascades – 800 upcycled “chandeliers” of cascading light in the Welcome Plaza portico.
2. Prismatic Passage – nearly 900 wine bottles casting a colorful reflective glow along the Daylily Walk.
3. Mystic Summer Nights – 15 architectural LED bar lights casting cool colors beyond the Garden Wall.
4. Where the Heavens Meet the Earth, A Tangible Night’s Sky – over 450 glistening hues of blue, yellow and white will twinkle like stars under the 200-year-old Live Oak trees on the Rosen Carolina Terrace.
5. Morocco at Night – 95 Moroccan-style lanterns will be scattered amongst the architecture, sculptures, roses bushes, and palm trees of the Poetry Garden.
6. Reflections of the Night – blue, green, and yellow handmade glass, created by “Conway Glass,” will splay colors across the garden surrounding the sculpture “Athlete” by Rudulph Evans as the sun sets each night.               
7. A Moppet’s Dream – 18 upcycled planter baskets and 14 repurposed cressets will make up larger-than-life lighted flowers placed throughout the Children’s Garden.
8. Symphony of Light – 50 architectural LED bar lights will light Live Oak Allee in a wash of color paired with romantic melodies.
9. White Lights, Warm Nights – White lanterns illuminating the pool and garden surrounding Anna Hyatt Huntington’s “Diana of the Chase” sculpture, mimicking the pure light of the moon.

For “Summer Lights,” Brookgreen Gardens’ gates will reopen at 6 p.m. for access to the special ticketed exhibit, which will be open until 10 p.m. Live music will be performed nightly by various bands. Dining and beverage options will also be available each evening.

Brookgreen’s Rosen Galleries will also be open during the event. “Bronze And Steel: The Art of Marc Mellon and Babette Bloch,” an interfacing retrospective exhibit from husband-and-wife sculptors Marc Mellon and Babette Bloch, will be on display. There will also be musical performances in the gallery from local pianists or classical guitarists.

Brookgreen’s Noble Gallery and Brown Sculpture Court will also be open and displaying artworks of various styles and themes.

Brookgreen is located at 1931 Brookgreen Drive just off U.S. Highway 17 (also known as Ocean Highway). Tickets for “Summer Lights” are: members: $20 adults, $12 children; non-members: $25 adults, $15 children. To purchase tickets, click here. Regular admission tickets do not include access to the “Summer Lights” event.

For more information about the event series, visit www.brookgreen.org.

Brookgreen Gardens is a National Historic Landmark located between the beach towns of Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast and is open to the public daily. Founded in 1931 by Anna Hyatt Huntington and Archer Huntington, Brookgreen is home to the largest and most significant collection of American Figurative Sculpture in the United States and continues as a leader in sculpture conservation, environmental conservation, and protection of the plants, animals, and history of the South Carolina Lowcountry.  For more information, call 843-235-6000.

South Carolina’s Hammock Coast is an official sponsor for Brookgreens’ “Summer Lights” exhibit.

“This is another spectacular event created by Brookgreen Gardens that visitors to the Hammock Coast will undoubtedly love this summer,” said Clayton Stairs, tourism manager for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce and South Carolina’s Hammock Coast.

Georgetown County’s casual charm and Southern hospitality earned it the nickname of the Hammock Coast. Adventure and relaxation blend together in perfect harmony, like the flowing and ebbing of waves on the county’s famed beaches. With six communities – southern Garden City, Murrells Inlet, Litchfield, Pawleys Island, Georgetown and Andrews – comprising the pristine coastal area between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, visitors can experience South Carolina’s Hammock Coast like never before.

— By Mark A. Stevens, director of tourism development, Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce and South Carolina’s Hammock Coast