Art Connects Us Art School show begins on Thursday

Working artists Dianne Tennyson and her husband, Eric Vincent, love teaching art.

Provided/Eric Vincent

McKenna Hardy takes an art lesson from Dianne Tennyson at Art Connects Us Art School in Mount Pleasant. The second annual show is being held at the MUSC Wellness Center Gallery during the month of May. The show will feature the work of students from the Tricounty area.

They work with more than 50 students in their Mount Pleasant-based art school, and Thursday officially begins its annual month-long exhibition of students' work that is designed to help the Medical University of South Carolina's Storm Eye Institute in Charleston.

The second annual Art Connects Us Art School show is being held at the MUSC Wellness Center Gallery during May. Proceeds raised from sales will aid the eye center in its Fight for Sight organization created by center interns to provide eye care for indigent patients.

The pair hope this year's effort is as successful as it was last year.

"It was fabulous," Tennyson said. "At least 150 people were at the opening reception."

This year's reception will be held 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday. The public is invited.

Visitors can view the exhibition from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 5:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. Friday, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Tennyson was an MUSC operation room nurse before completing her degree in studio art and earning a Master of Arts degree in teaching. She is a registered art therapist and taught in the public school system for nine years before expanding her art school. Her work is shown in several local galleries, and she speaks frequently on the therapeutic power of art therapy while maintaining a private therapy practice.

Trained as a zoologist, Vincent has worked in advertising as an art director, illustrator and radio and TV producer since he finished his degree in graphic design.

Tennyson and Vincent concentrate on the basics with their students, guiding them through a more traditional curriculum that stresses discipline, focus and the development of seeing and eye-hand coordination. Tennyson teaches drawing and oil and pastel painting, while Vincent offers instruction in drawing, cartooning and sculpture.

Tennyson said their work with one of the exhibition's artists, Leland Wilson, 28, is an example of the rewards of working with students, especially physically challenged people.

"I usually have my classes at home, but I teach on the third floor and Leland couldn't get up there," she said. "He's in a wheelchair."

Tennyson said his parents were thrilled with her work with their son. So when she and her husband were looking for a place for the exhibition, they helped out in gaining access to the Wellness Center Gallery.

Wilson's father, Dr. Edward Wilson, is head of the Storm Eye Institute.

Reach Jack McCray at 937-5519 or jmccray@postandcourier.com.