Nights of a Thousand Candles ~ Brookgreen Gardens Holiday Extravaganza!
Brookgreen Gardens is located in Murells Inlet, SC. It is considered the finest outdoor museum of its kind. The property was originally purchased by a wealthy industrialist Archer Huntington and his wife, noted sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington in 1930, as a retreat for his wife who was at the time recovering from tuberculosis.
Today Brookgreens’ botanical gardens, outdoor and indoor sculptures, Lowcountry Zoo and art museums are a must see when visiting the area.
Starting in September, every year they start the long and tedious process of putting the lights on the trees for their Nights of a Thousand Candles. We’re not talking a few Christmas trees. We’re talking about every branch on huge live oaks and other large and small trees throughout the grounds. They actually use cherry picker trucks to hoist the workers high up into the trees!
They also place all sorts of floating candles in ponds and pools, surrounding gorgeous sculptures and statues. The reflected light creates a magical effect in the water.
This year they had what reminded us of the tiki torches we saw when we were in Hawaii. They were mounted in the shallow marsh water along walking paths, creating a lively flickering of warm light from the torches.
It isn’t the number of lights or the colorful light displays that everyone oohs and aahs over, it’s the artistic design and creativity that takes this lighting display to a whole new level. I’ve described it as jaw dropping. It is a surreal world that one walks into when they begin their visit to Nights of a Thousand Candles.
One of the brightest lights at Brookgreen Gardens is Page Kiniry who is the President and CEO. She oversees the entire production. Brookgreen Gardens employs over 150 staff members and has many volunteers helping on the grounds. Page has grown Nights of a Thousand Candles into one of the top holiday lighting events in the country.
Every night ends up being sold out. They actually limit the number of people each night to a certain number so that it isn’t too crowded. They have live music, carolers, food trucks, dining at their in-house restaurant, and adult beverages.
Despite a couple of years where Covid affected so many businesses and organizations so adversely, Page has somehow managed Brookgreen Gardens so effectively that they continue to expand their cultural facilities and their many educational programs. For example, they currently have a capital campaign with a goal of raising $20 million, which will go towards building a new contemporary conservatory, new art facilities, expanded history exhibits, and the red wolf exhibit in the Lowcountry Zoo.
The campaign has been quite successful and the ground breaking for the new conservatory is planned for January.
We will become members of Brookgreen Gardens this next year. I’m looking forward to visiting the botanical gardens in season, the art museum whenever there are new exhibits, and maybe even painting some of their magnificent landscapes.
Thank you for reading my blog and for your interest in my art. I am currently working on a small Charleston painting and hope to finish in the next few days. After that I have a Great Blue Heron commissioned portrait and will be finishing up a floral still-life commission.
Here is the link to Brookgreen Gardens in case you would like to become a member or donor and help support this wonderful not-for-profit organization, www.brookgreen.org.
“One of the joys of being an artist is having the freedom to follow my passion….”
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Drawing by William R. Beebe