MYRTLE BEACH, SC.-This fall, the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum continues to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a trio of exhibits that will take viewers to the far corners of the globe – and the inner recesses of the mind.

Opening September 11 are Bhutan: The Cloud Kingdom, Photographs and Artifacts – Organized by The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida; and The Art of Stephen Chesley: Twilight, Slight Rain-Poetic Realist Paintings. September 13 marks the opening of Mapping the Dark: A Museum of Ambient Disorders, Visual Fiction by Rosamond Casey.

Bhutan: The Cloud Kingdom offers a unique view of a tiny Buddhist kingdom high in the Himalayas, for centuries closed to the outside world and shrouded in mystery but now captured in stunning images by photographer Tom Sterling. The exhibit comprises dozens of Sterling’s photographs of the land and people of Bhutan, along with paintings, textile artworks and artifacts. The exhibit runs through October 21.

In conjunction with the Bhutan exhibit, the Museum will host a special presentation October 9-14 of The Mystical Arts of Tibet: Mandala Sand Painting, a 30-hour event during which a team of Tibetan monks will create an exquisitely hued sand painting in an ancient ritual of healing. The Mandala, or sacred sand painting, will be created over six days; the closing ceremony will take place on Sunday, October 14 at 1:30 p.m. Please call the Art Museum for a complete schedule of events.

Painter Stephen Chesley is known for his moody and atmospheric landscapes, often illuminated by ambiguous shades of dusk or moonlight. Rarely are human beings depicted in his works, but each painting holds a touch of mystery. The viewer is induced to wonder what is just out of sight or what happened just before the scene came into view. The exhibit runs through October 21.

Even more mysterious are the vignettes that make up Rosamond Casey’s Mapping the Dark. Casey assembles an installation of artworks and narratives purported to be the creation of ten distinct individuals – all creations of Casey’s imagination. Their stories are told through over 100 images – boxes, books, photographs, collages and drawings, along with letters, “witness” accounts, newspaper and diary entries that combine to create portraits of these personalities. Mapping the Dark remains on exhibit through January 6, 2008.

An opening reception for all three of these exhibits will be held on Thursday, September 13, from 5:30 to 7:30, with Gallery Talks to be presented by each artist.
Regular gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. Admission to the Museum is free but donations are welcomed.

The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum is a wholly nonprofit institution located across from Springmaid Pier at 3100 South Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are welcomed. Components of Museum programs are funded in part by support from the City of Myrtle Beach, the Horry County Council and the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.