Art and Fashion Take Center Stage in Charleston: Inside the 2025 Art Charleston Festival
Source: Gibbes Museum of Art
Reported By: Michael Travin
Charleston is preparing to dazzle once again as the Gibbes Museum of Art unveils its anticipated lineup for Art Charleston 2025, a five-day celebration of visual arts running April 23–27. Now in its fourth edition, the city’s signature cultural festival returns with a striking theme: the fusion of art and fashion. From high-concept runway shows to thought-provoking exhibitions and culinary artistry, the event is poised to elevate Charleston’s reputation as a national art destination.
This year’s programming orbits around the museum’s critically acclaimed exhibition, Statement Pieces: Contemporary Fashion Design and the Gibbes Collection, which brings together rare designs from global fashion houses like Gucci, Alexander McQueen, and Comme des Garçons, paired with works by icons such as Joan Mitchell, Romare Bearden, Barkley Hendricks, and Jasper Johns. Visitors can expect a dialogue between fine art and fashion that unfolds across lectures, panels, studio visits, and pop-up showcases citywide.
Art as Catalyst, Fashion as Language
“Art is the reason. As Art Charleston evolves and grows... we remain anchored in supporting artists and expanding resources for our local art scene.”
Angela Mack, President and CEO of the Gibbes Museum of Art
Since its inception in 2022, Art Charleston has raised over $1 million for arts initiatives, demonstrating the city’s commitment to cultural development while significantly boosting tourism revenue.
Charleston’s rise as an art capital is underscored by this year’s powerhouse lineup of national talent. Among them: Nell Diamond, Founder & CEO of Hill House Home, will headline the annual Art of Design luncheon (April 23) in the Gibbes’ Lenhardt Garden, followed by an in-store anniversary celebration at Hill House’s flagship Charleston location—the brand’s largest nationwide.
Later that day, the conversation shifts to fashion and digital critique during Threads of Change: Fashion, Culture, and the Digital Age, a panel featuring influential voices including YouTuber Luke Meagher (HauteLeMode), podcast host Recho Omondi (The Cutting Room Floor®), and video essayist Maia Wyman (Broey Deschanel). Together, they’ll explore the intersection of aesthetics, criticism, and contemporary media.
Runways, Residencies, and Regional Talent
Among the most anticipated events is the Sew Surreal Fashion Show (April 26), where 10 Charleston-based designers reinterpret works from the Gibbes Permanent Collection into wearable art. This fusion of fashion and fine art—set to live music and projected visuals in the garden—spotlights emerging creatives like Jared Major, Dev Smalls, and Andrea Tuton, showcasing the museum’s commitment to nurturing local talent through experimental formats.
Equally immersive is Gibbes on the Street (April 24), a street party helmed by celebrated chef Michael Toscano. The open-air event will feature signature dishes from some of Charleston’s most acclaimed restaurants, including FIG, Le Farfalle, and The Ordinary, alongside live music and cocktails. Toscano, who now calls Charleston home, praised the museum’s cultural impact:
On view throughout the week are visiting artist residencies with Taylor Epps, Jack Powell, and Nicole Vanasse, as well as Spool of Friends, a large-scale quilted painting created collaboratively with local families under the direction of artist Katy Mixon. Other highlights include Generations of Creativity (April 25), a conversation with creative mother-daughter duos, and the Artisan Fair (April 27), which offers original ceramics, jewelry, and textiles for sale in a free public market.
A Museum at the Cultural Forefront
With a history dating back to 1858, the Gibbes Museum has long been a steward of the visual arts in the South. Its collection spans more than three centuries, from historical works to cutting-edge contemporary pieces. Events like Art Charleston underscore the institution’s commitment to both preserving tradition and fostering innovation.
The 2025 festival not only reflects Charleston’s evolving cultural identity but invites the wider art and fashion worlds to take note. “Our art week was nurtured from the ground up,” Mack emphasizes, “by civic leaders who recognize the vital impact of the visual arts on the community.”
For full programming, ticketing information, and artist lineups, visit gibbesmuseum.org/art-charleston.
Art Charleston 2025 is open to locals and visitors alike—uniting global artistry with Southern hospitality in a city that continues to shape the conversation around culture and creativity.
About the Gibbes Museum of Art
The Gibbes Museum of Art, a beacon in the American South for arts and culture since 1858 when the Museum’s art collection was founded, is heralded as one of the earliest and most longstanding arts institutions in the United States. The Museum’s collection spans 350 years, and features some of the country’s most celebrated artists ‒ including contemporary, modern and historical works. With world-class rotating exhibitions and a dynamic visiting artist residency program, the Gibbes is a Southern museum with a global perspective. The Museum’s mission is to enhance lives through art by engaging people of every background and experience with art and artists of enduring quality, providing opportunities to learn and discover, to enjoy and be inspired by the creative process.
Museum hours and visitor info at: www.gibbesmuseum.org/visit.