How We Git Gullah by Saundra Renee Smith Reception

Teaching the Meaning of Family
How We Git Gullah opens July 6 at Art League Gallery

Saundra Renee Smith, local Gullah artist, captures the essence of being an authentic Gullah/Geechee native of the Lowcountry in How We Git Gullah, an exhibit at Art League this July.

Smith’s work is nostalgic, showing simplistic and innocent scenes of a symbiotic existence with the earth, guided by the wisdom of the ancients. Inspired by the beauty of her native St. Helena, Smith’s paintings feature lush, green fields, moss-covered oaks, and rivers “carrying food, health, and Gullah folk tales on every tide.” She uses colorful acrylic paints and mixed media on all manner of materials, including canvas, board, glass, vinyl and tin.

Gullah means “kinfolk.” How We Git Gullah is a tribute to the notion of a cultural family with a homeland ranging down the East Coast from North Carolina to Florida in a swath known as the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Corridor. The exhibit will have short stories of Gullah life interspersed among the artworks. “My aim is to foster communication, connections, and a sense of cultural humility,” says Smith.

How We Git Gullah will be on exhibit July 6-August 13, 2022 at Art League of Hilton Head. An opening reception, free and open to the public, will be held Wednesday, July 6, 5-7pm.