Find inspiration in the work of student artists and writers. At each session of Writing Club, poets and writers from CofC’s MFA program in Creative Writing will offer a series of onsite writing prompts based on pieces from Young Contemporaries 2026. This is an opportunity to generate your own stories and poems in a supportive, serene space, surrounded by visual art. Writing Club is free, and all are welcome.
Draw inspiration from Young Contemporaries 2026! This drop-in program is free and open to all ages. Explore the work of College of Charleston students then create your own sketches inspired by the works on view. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Bring your own sketching materials. No paint allowed in the galleries.
Join us for an Opening Reception celebrating the concurrent exhibitions Maria Britton: Second Sleep & In Kyoung Chun: Make Room.
The College of Charleston community and current Halsey Institute Members receive free admission to the Halsey Institute’s Opening Receptions. Not yet-Members will be asked for a suggested $5 donation. Join today here!
Maria Britton: Second Sleep highlights Britton’s textile-based works called Draperies, in which patterned bedsheets become expertly layered, pleated, and playful abstract paintings. Mounted on the wall in curtain-like forms, her Draperies shape liminal portals of reflection, whether obscuring the past or inviting to imagine what lies beyond.
In Kyoung Chun: Make Room presents both painting and site-specific installation. Interactive works extend the language of painting beyond the canvas, inviting viewers into environments that challenge perception and encourage connection.
These exhibitions are funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts and funded in part by a generous award from the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of The Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina.
In Kyoung Chun is a multidisciplinary artist born in Seoul, South Korea, and currently based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries, institutions, and platforms, including Poem 88, HiLo Press, Dashboard, The New Gallery (Tennessee), Emory University, Sumter Gallery (South Carolina), Stove Works, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, NADA (online), Yi Gallery (New York) and Asian Art Contemporary (New York).
Chun’s works are included in the permanent collections of the High Museum of Art, Goat Farm Arts Center, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Atlanta Public Library, Georgia State University, and in numerous private collections, including that of the late master Larry Walker.
Chun was a finalist for the 2025 Atlanta Artadia Award and recently completed a three-year residency at Atlanta Contemporary. Her recent residencies also include the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts at le Moulin à Nef in France.
Chun participated in the exhibition “Celestial Bodies” at Stoveworks in Tennessee in 2025.
She prepares for some major shows in 2026, including exhibitions at the Swan Coach House Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia, the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in Charleston, South Carolina and at the Institute 193 in Lexington, Kentucky.
Maria Britton: Second Sleep & In Kyoung Chun: Make Room are funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts and funded in part by a generous award from the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of The Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina.
Artist Statement
My practice moves between painting and site-specific installation, exploring how art can create spaces of intimacy, belonging, and dialogue. Interactive works extend the language of painting beyond the canvas, inviting viewers into environments that challenge perception and encourage connection.
As an immigrant artist, I reflect on the shifting sense of home—both safe and fragile, stable yet impermanent. Transparent houses, suspended structures, and intimate paintings serve as metaphors for belonging, suggesting neighborhoods that are open and inclusive.
By blurring boundaries between interior and exterior, personal and public, my work builds shared spaces where fragility and resilience coexist, and where the act of looking becomes an act of belonging.
Join us for a panel discussion organized by the Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) Program at the College of Charleston. Panelists will discuss themes explored in Maria Britton: Second Sleep.
Panelists include:
Matty Layne Glasgow, Department of English
Janine McCabe, Department of Theater and Dance
Shaon Lahiri, Department of Public Health Sciences
Mary Trent (moderator), Department of Art & Architectural History
This panel discussion is free and open to the public.
The Curated Detour: ArtFields, Lake City, SC marks the launch of a new premium, curator-led travel program for Halsey Institute members at the Conceptualist level ($500) and above.
Centered on curatorial inquiry rather than traditional sightseeing, this experience offers rare access to artist studios, private collections, and the cultural ecosystems that shape contemporary art.
Designed to extend the Halsey’s mission beyond the gallery, The Curated Detour creates immersive, small-group experiences that foster deeper connections between patrons, artists, and contemporary practice. These shared encounters emphasize learning, access, and meaningful engagement—strengthening relationships, supporting thoughtful donor stewardship, and positioning the Halsey as a relationship-driven cultural leader.
Participation in The Curated Detour is available to Halsey Institute members at the Conceptualist level ($500) and above. Capacity is limited and registration is offered on a first-come, first-served RSVP basis. If space remains after a designated date (varies by event), registration will open to all membership levels.
Learn more about ArtFields here.
Questions about The Curated Detour? Reach out to Selynne Ancheta, Director of Development at anchetasm@cofc.edu.
In this hands-on workshop, participants will create a small bojagi window panel—a patchwork textile rooted in traditional Korean hand-sewing practices. Using repurposed natural fabrics, students will explore how color, memory, and light interact through layered cloth. The project invites quiet reflection, intuitive composition, and the slow, grounding rhythm of stitching. Participants will walk away with a luminous 4×5-inch panel that can be hung in a window or framed as a soft, abstract artwork.
Students will:
Learn more about Mariah Bintliff of Bojagi Blues here.
Skill Level
Beginner-intermediate sewists, ages 14+. Prior hand sewing experience isn’t required, but is preferred.
All Materials Provided.
Participants may want to bring their own small cutting mat, rotary cutter, rulers, and/or scissors, but not required.
Capped at 12 participants
If you have any questions, email HalseyRSVP@charleston.edu.
$65 Halsey Members / $75 Not-Yet Members
Purchase tickets here via George Street Box Office.
Join us for a casual morning of coffee, conversation, and an exhibition tour with the Halsey Institute’s staff and your fellow Members of Maria Britton: Second Sleep & In Kyoung Chun: Make Room. The exhibition tour will begin at 10:15 AM, but Members are invited to join us at any point between 10:00 – 11:00 AM.
This event is open to all levels of Halsey Institute membership. Not a member yet? Not a problem! Find out more about the benefits of membership here.
Continuing our collaboration with SaltWata Cinema Club, we will be screening Crooklyn (1994), directed by Spike Lee.
SaltWata Cinema Club is an itinerant film club designed to engage the community in film and conversation, with an emphasis on Black, Diasporic, Indie, and short films. It was created in 2019 by Charleston’s current Poet Laureate, A$iahMae. For more information, visit asiahmae.com.
About Crooklyn
As her teacher mother, Carolyn (Alfre Woodard), and her jazz musician father, Woody (Delroy Lindo), worry over monthly bills, grade-schooler student Troy Carmichael (Zelda Harris) banters and bonds with her four brothers. Against her will, Troy is sent to her aunt’s southern home for a summer visit, but when she returns to her bustling Brooklyn neighborhood, she learns that a family member is gravely ill. Already mature, Troy is forced to face to some very grown-up facts about life and loss.
Free and open to the public. Film will include closed captioning.
Join us for Halsey After Hours from 5:30 – 7:30 PM and check out Maria Britton: Second Sleep & In Kyoung Chun: Make Room! Mingle and drink in the views of these up-and-coming artists.
Halsey After Hours is a happy hour event where guests are encouraged to bring a friend and enjoy light bites, drinks, and tunes. This event is free for Members of the Halsey Institute. Not-yet Members will be asked for a $10 donation. Find out more about the benefits of membership here.
Want to refresh your wardrobe? Join us for a Clothing Swap with the Naked Lady Society! Participants bring gently used unwanted clothing and accessories to swap for new pieces.
Folks of all styles, shapes, sizes, and ages are welcome. Clean out your closet, meet other amazing people, support local causes, and update your wardrobe in an environmentally friendly way. Bring any stylish clothes you’re not feeling anymore and swap them for a FREE wardrobe refresh. Unclaimed clothing will be donated to local organizations.
Bring your own reusable bags!
Bring the whole crew for a fun-filled morning of art and creativity! Inspired by the exhibitions Maria Britton: Second Sleep & In Kyoung Chun: Make Room, this free event features hands-on activities for all ages — yes, even adults!
Maria Britton (born 1982, Florence, SC) lives and works in Carrboro, NC. She has participated in artist residencies through Lighthouse Works, Hambidge Center, Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, Petrified Forest National Park, and Vermont Studio Center. Her recent group exhibitions include the Weatherspoon Art Museum, North Carolina Museum of Art, Lump Gallery, and Atlanta Contemporary. Her work will be featured in New American Paintings No. 178. Maria earned her BFA from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, and her MFA from UNC Chapel Hill. From 2015–2020, she co-directed an experimental art gallery called LOG. Maria has worked around 50 jobs as a housecleaner, educator, stain and glaze dental technician, direct support professional, photo re-toucher, hospital artist-in-residence working directly with oncology patients, and rideshare driver.
Movements features Maria Britton’s most recent newspaper pulp sculptures, abstract paintings, and sewn wall-based works called Draperies made from patterned bed sheets. Through her use of everyday materials, including bed sheets and newspapers, Maria transforms objects typically on their way out the door into an opportunity to elevate and extend experiences of liminality.
The large-scale Draperies, all made in 2024, feature layers of ruffled and pleated sheets sewn and painted in an improvisational manner. The Draperies combine the art historical term drapery—depictions of folded fabrics—with Maria’s interest in everything curtains. The floral forms of the paper sculptures mimic Maria’s experience of living with hypermobility (overly flexible joints) and hard-to-define aspects of having a connective tissue disorder. Using a custom mix of pulped-up newspapers, she slowly builds up the regurgitated newsfeed into floral forms, allowing each layer to dry completely before smoothing on another. The smaller paintings on bed sheets look into motifs repeated throughout her twenty years of painting on sheets, including gesture, positive and negative space, cutouts, fabric manipulation, and an inverted arch form suggestive of an eye or breast.
Maria Britton: Second Sleep & In Kyoung Chun: Make Room are funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts and funded in part by a generous award from the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of The Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina.