What we saw at Artisphere: Festival again brings tens of thousands to downtown Greenville

The 2023 Artisphere, celebrating its 20th year of existence, meant big crowds in downtown Greenville this weekend.

Approximately 90,000 attendees were expected for this year's free event, which spanned from Court Street and Main to Wardlaw and Main during the three-day festival. This festival integrates events and exhibitions that expand into Falls Park for the first time since 2019.

Artwork ranged from plants combined with jewelry, oil and acrylic paintings with fantasy themes, Boxed Music drums and much more.

The festival, which also features live music and food, was established in 2003 with the goal of creating a nationally recognized Fine Arts festival in Greenville. The event concludes Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

While the Saturday Market had crowds gathered on the north end of Main Street, going south toward the West End was an amazing display of artistry and imagination. There were 143 total artists representing 31 states including 40 brand new artists and 16 Greenville-based artists.

With 18 different art forms on display, here are some of the most interesting booths, art and intriguing sights and sounds at Artisphere:

Mary Alice Godfrey comes to Artisphere with a plan

Mary Alice Godfrey hopes to retire from practicing family law soon and wants to spend more time enjoying art. She has attended Artisphere 19 times and likes to scope out the entire scene before making her final decision on a purchase.

"The first day I typically look at one-half of the displays, and Saturday the other half," said Godfrey, 70. "And then I'll come back (on Sunday) and make any purchase, or just look again."

She currently has a few pieces hanging in her Greer home from purchases she made at Artisphere over the years. She has a love for art and an appreciation for Greenville for having the event.

"It's my favorite festival in Greenville," Godfrey said. "I've been able to make purchases of watercolors, prints, jewelry and more. I have been coming since it began. I'm not sure I'll ever stop coming."

Phill Singer's fantasy world

Phill Singer's piece entitled "The Outsider" took home first place in the 2-D category as it showcases an octopus floating through the street with other land animals chasing behind it.

Much more of his oil and acrylic artwork showed similar characteristics: larger-than-life animals in tight spaces, running through water or swimming through farmland. The singer captivated Artisphere onlookers with the visual image of what appeared to be various aquamarine dreams.

"I'm creating a dreamlike environment," Singer said. "I pick things I want to paint, and I play with them. Sometimes when you wake up from a dream you have no idea what it was about. That's what I want to execute. "

The New Britain, Pennsylvania artist works in a room by himself for weeks at a time and often thinks and hopes people love the work he creates. His website is The Art of Phill Singer.

Official festival poster: Greenville couple's artwork captures essence of Artisphere

Steven Daniel's frog photography

Steven Daniel started photographing nature almost 12 years ago, but it morphed into more after taking humorous pictures of frogs alongside smaller props and activities.

Because of the humor, cuteness and professionalism of his work, Daniel's Artisphere booth was a must-see.

Daniel uses real frogs for his photoshoots. He once put a frog on a small bicycle and it tickled him. Since then his work can be seen featuring frogs playing billiards, cooking, on a romantic date and even playing the popular video game Frogger.

Adam Crowell's Boxed Music drum

As Adam Crowell played his 12-note Boxed Music drum, the Artisphere crowd had no choice but to notice the crisp sounds coming from a wooden box, that featured a carved-out xylophone that can be played by hand or stick.

Forced to repair his own cajón one time, Crowell began fixing other musicians' instruments and decided to make his own musical tool to sell for profit, after struggling to make ends meet.

Crowell builds and offers Boxed Music drums in different keys, scales and notes and also offers shakers and music to play alongside.

Nolan Prohaska's sandblasted plants

Dancewither Glassworks is Nolan Prohaska's interpretation of flowers with a sandblasted and matte finish. The Artisphere crowd took notice of the bright flower pedals that go with etched stems, creating a unique perspective of the flower. The Wisconsin native uses molten glass inside a 2,000-degree furnace for all of his artwork.

"When we see plants, very few of them are shiny," Prohaska said. "This display is more about color, combos and form."

Jenifer Thoem's ceramics create illusions

What appeared to be small and cartoonish, from a distance, turned out to be a fascinating display of smaller artwork that showcases a larger image at Jennifer Thoem's mixed media 2-D booth.

"My work is not your typical art," Thoem said. "I use tiny objects to make bigger pieces."

One of her displays features a collection of airplanes that can be pinned to the wall, and individual clouds that are designed to fit on a specific wall or part of a ceiling. Thoem creates art installations for her customers and often sells them to people with unique ceilings or wall spaces and hotel lobbies.

Thoem, a Georgia Southern art graduate, has always known there was nothing more she wanted to do than make ceramics, travel to different showcases across the country and display her work.

Bobby Goldsmith's pencil drawings

Distinct, concise and sharp pencil drawings from Bobby Goldsmith caught the eye of many onlookers at Artisphere.

His time as a former construction worker and the architectural base drawings for kitchen remodels is where his expertise with pencil drawing started. After picking up both photography and water coloring eight years ago, Goldsmith slowly found his way back into drawing with pencil.

Suzanne Schmid's living art

"If you water them, they can live forever," is how Suzanne Schmid described her living art, combing jewelry and gardening. "This is a result of merging my two loves of jewelry and gardening," she said. "So this is wearable, living jewelry."

Schmid's artwork comes both in jewelry and sculpture form. Her necklaces can be worn with living flowers but also hung in kitchen windows to get sunshine and grow.

The Springfield, Illinois resident is a University of California at Santa Barbara sculpture graduate and believes her jewelry allows her to make small sculptures.

– A.J. Jackson covers the food & dining scene, along with arts, entertainment and more for The Greenville News and Anderson Independent Mail. Contact him by email at ajackson@gannett.com, and follow him on Twitter @ajhappened.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Artisphere: Festival brings large crowds to downtown Greenville SC