The Stick exhibition is based on artist Clay Rice’s children’s book, “The Stick,” about a young boy who embarks on an exciting journey after finding a stick. It is on exhibit at the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum June 1 through September 3, 2023, courtesy of the artist and the South Carolina State Museum.

With original hand-cut illustrations from the artist, The Stick will come to life in this fascinating exhibition at the Art Museum.  Rice blends the elegant black and white silhouette tradition with a world of color in this story of the power of imagination. 

Clay Rice is as much a folklorist as he is a visual artist, collecting stories from people he meets and preserving their tales in silhouettes, an art form that began in France in the mid-1700s, taking its name from one of its most famous practitioners, Etienne de Silhouette. 

Rice learned his craft from the master – his grandfather, famed South Carolina silhouette artist Carew Rice, who was described by poet Carl Sandburg as “America’s greatest silhouettist.”