Meet this year’s featured artist at the Hilton Head Island Gullah Celebration, Lisa Rivers.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Every artist was once an amateur.” Beaufort-based artist Lisa Gilyard-Rivers seems to defy this sentiment. Her career as an artist did not begin until the age of 52. An artist was always inside her, waiting to reveal itself. Her thoughtful paintings, stroked with emotions of love and pain, tell stories of yesterday and today.
Lisa’s work centers on the legacy of Gullah culture, past and present. Her art mediums include abstract, oil, and multimedia. Spectators and patrons often say that the vibrant colors that shine boldly off each canvas are what catches their attention and spark their connection to her pieces. Lisa paints with love and paints most of her masterpieces at her home on her porch. She creates stories in her paint strokes and in each finished piece.
She owns Legacy Art Gallery at 917 Bay Street in the Old Bay Marketplace in Beaufort. Legacy Art Gallery welcomes thousands of visitors each year – from Beaufort natives to tourists traveling from afar – to explore and experience the art of artist and gallery owner, Lisa Rivers. Established in 2019, Legacy Art Gallery was recognized and celebrated as the first black woman-owned art gallery of its kind on Bay Street in downtown Beaufort.
Her work has been featured throughout the area, including:
- Paisley Magazine – Cover Artist
- Hilton Head Art League – Upcoming Featured Artist
- Lowcountry Weekly News Magazine – Cover Artist
- Pink Magazine – Low Country Favorite Woman
- Local Life Magazine – Featured Gullah Artist, Crab Art Series
- Beaufort Art Council Exhibit – Exhibiting Artist
- “Arts Ob We People” Exhibit – Exhibiting Artist
- “Pursuit of Opportunity and Freedom: The Reconstruction Era Art Program” – Featured Artist on Permanent Display
- “Black Madonna” Exhibit
- Moja Festival – Exhibit Artist
Sources: www.legacyartgallery.com, www.gullahcelebration.com.
