Lunch & Learn Gullah Culture

Join ArtPlay at lunch over Zoom and learn about South Carolina’s Gullah culture. We will be guided by Alana Adams, Senior Director of Education for the Arts Center of Coastal Carolinas, and Gullah artist Michael Smalls to learn about the educational efforts to preserve Gullah arts and culture. Attendees will receive a discount for the upcoming Ranky Tanky performance on February 23.

Alana Adams is the Senior Director of Education at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Having earned her BFA in Art Education from Georgia State University, Adams is also certified in Pre-K-12 Art Education and has taught art and pottery to both children and adults for over twenty years in both private and public institutions. She currently serves on several boards including the Board of Directors for the SC Art Education Association, the Business Education Partnership Committee for Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, and the Hilton Head Island EDIA Coalition.

Michael Smalls is a 7^th generation Gullah artist from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Specializing in basket-sewing, he was originally taught by his great-grandmother, Lucinda Pringle, whose mother was an enslaved worker on Mr. Pleasant’s Laurel Hill plantation. Smalls describes his art as a spiritual experience, and often prays for the well-being of the future basket owner during his creative process.

This event is sponsored in part by