As part of the celebration of its 150^th Anniversary, Penn Center on St. Helena Island, SC, will present an exhibition of work by Ellen Zisholtz, the Director/Curator of SC State University’s I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium, at Penn’s York W. Bailey Museum.

These social comment works, Art with a Conscience, will be on view October 10^th through November 3, with an opening artist reception on Friday the 10th, catered by Alluette’s Café of Charleston, beginning at 6 pm.

Zisholtz comments, "I am honored to be invited to present my art at Penn Center which has been in the forefront of civil rights since its inception in 1862 and was critical to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. I am also thankful to work at a Museum of “Conscience and Social Justice” at a Historically Black College. I hope that my work creates an interest in contemporary issues and precipitates discussions and social action.”

   Ellen Zisholtz is the Director/Curator at the I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium and Assistant Professor in Visual and Performing Arts, SC State University.  Her recognitions include the Association of African American Museums Board; The Stanback Governor’s Award for the Humanities; Alliance of Ethics and Art Unsung Hero of Civil Rights; and the Orangeburg Chapter of the Links community service in the arts award. Congressman James Clyburn presented her with the first SC State Faculty Award for Creativity. She was Coordinator for the first Penn Center Gullah Studies Institute; on the DC Host Committee for the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial; and the planning committee for the 50^th Anniversary of Freedom Summer. Her exhibitions include Transcending Slavery and the Holocaust, Temple University Hillel; shows in NYC in SOHO and the New York State Exhibition at the Avante Gallery. She studied painting at the Art Students’ League in NYC, history at the City University of New York and received a Master’s in Arts Administration from New York University.

            York W. Bailey Museum is located at 16 Penn Center Circle West in the National Historic Landmark District, on St Helena Island, South Carolina. Gallery hours are Monday - Saturday 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. For more information contact 843-838-2474 or visit online at http://penncenter.com

            For additional information about Art with a Conscience contact Ellen Zisholtz, at (803) 928-6851 or Penn Center.