Spring Island Culture

The credit for much of these activities goes to the Spring Island Trust, which not only works to preserve the island’s pristine environment but also organizes numerous on-island events. These include classical, jazz and other musical performances, workshops for owners contemplating building a home, kids’ camps and a visiting artists program. This program entails inviting renowned artists to come here and create for a week or so. We’ll put them up in grand style and when they leave they are gracious enough to donate a work of art to our collection. This has been going on for over 10 years and our art collection has become quite impressive. Also, many of these visiting artists conduct workshops in which members, from novices to the more accomplished, can participate.

Specialists and professors in a variety of fields from photography and sculpture to native wildlife or regional history speak at weekly lectures that have become a staple of island living. And, of course, many gatherings are just for fun, whether it’s a Lowcountry crab boil, an oyster roast, a family-oriented holiday celebration or simply an evening with friends in the waterfront gazebo to watch the sun throw its last colors across the rivers and marshes.

Music

Music is very popular entertainment on Spring Island. Whether the performance is in a club dining room, an outdoor setting or in a member’s home, the event is typically oversubscribed. We book a variety of talent, including cabaret pianists, choral groups, gospel music groups, classical guitarists, New Orleans jazz bands and chamber music quartets.

Members also have easy access to the Spoleto in Charleston, the Savannah Music Festival, the Hilton Head Orchestra and the chamber music series in Beaufort.

Art

The nationally acclaimed Arts Program on Spring Island offers both workshop opportunities and an artist residency program. Started in 1992 by Betsy Chaffin, the program has brought over 100 nationally and internationally recognized artists to the island.  During any year, the Spring Island Trust Nature and Arts Committee offers approximately nine workshops in various mediums including oil, watercolor, pastel, drawing, photography and fine crafts. In addition, the residency program hosts approximately five to six artists a year.  All of these artists present a Trust Talk on Thursday evening and gift a piece of work to the Spring Island Trust Collection.
Interest in the arts has created a very active arts community on Spring Island. For some it is their primary focus while for others the opportunity to explore undiscovered talents has opened new windows. Below, please see a list of our most recent artists from 2000 – 2008.

For more information about our Artist Residency/Workshop Program please contact

Lisa Gravil at lgravil@lowcountryinstitute.org or 843-987-7008.

Trust Talks 

This weekly event is very popular and provides intellectual stimulation over a wide spectrum of subjects pertaining to the world of nature. These talks also include presentations by the artists, photographers, sculptors and creative craftsmen who teach at our workshops.

Academic Research

Spring Island serves as an ecological research site for universities and other scientific organizations and provides logistical support and housing for researchers and their assistants. When the studies are complete and published, the research director makes a verbal report to the membership and explains the key findings and their relevance to the Island’s nature programs.

The following research studies have been completed recently or are still underway:

•  Prehistoric and Historic Settlement Patterns on an Isolated Sea Island                               -Dr. Michael Trinkley, Chicora Foundation Research, 1989-1990
  

• Songbirds as Environmental Indicators of Development Impact                                             -Dr. Chris Marsh Executive Director, Spring Island Trust, 1993-2004, in progress
  

• The Ecology of the Southeastern Fox Squirrel                                                                          -James Lee, University of Georgia 1998-2000
  

• Relocation of the Fox Squirrel to Establish New Populations                                                   -Guinn Senecal, University of Georgia, 1999-2001
  

• Survivorship and Site Fidelity of the Eastern Painted Bunting                                             -Paul Sykes US Biological Survey, University of Georgia, 1999-2004, in progress
  

• Nesting Success of Painted Buntings in Maritime and Agricultural Habitats                         -Jay Garcia, Clemson University 2002-2004, in progress
  

• Winter Territoriality and Ecology on the Hermit Thrush on Spring Island                              -Dr. Peter Mara, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center