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TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED ARTIST JIM HARRISON, OF BAMBERG COUNTY, AND TO EXPRESS THE APPRECIATION OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR HIS SUCCESS IN PRESERVING THE RURAL HISTORY OF OUR STATE THROUGH HIS MAGNIFICENT PAINTINGS.
Whereas, himself one of the Palmetto State's chief art treasures, Denmark native Jim Harrison, of Bamberg County, has produced a body of work in oils, watercolors, and pencil sketches that makes him one of the most admired and renowned American artists of our day; and
Whereas, known for chronicling twentieth-century rural life, Jim's subjects--rustic railroad stations, churches, one-room schoolhouses, country stores, covered bridges, and farm buildings--represent the spirit of an earlier agrarian society; and
Whereas, as a man of many talents, in 1970 he left behind a successful eleven-year high school coaching career, as well as an offer to become an assistant coach at Furman University, and returned to his hometown to pursue a full-time career as artist, writer, and speaker; and
Whereas, since the publication of his first print, "Coastal Dunes," many of his prints have appreciated up to three thousand percent of their original value, and he has become the nation's undisputed leader in rural Americana art and the unequaled master of twentieth-century advertising art, as Hammer Galleries in New York City attests; and
Whereas, in 2008, Jim is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Jim Harrison Gallery in Denmark, his thirty-eighth year as a full-time artist, and the fiftieth year of his 1958 graduation from the University of South Carolina, the latter celebration marked with a special release of "Palmetto Trees," a new print to benefit his alma mater; and
Whereas, South Carolina is blessed to claim this truly gifted artist as a native son, and the House of Representatives is pleased to publicly honor him for a career that has enriched the lives of so many. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor nationally and internationally acclaimed artist Jim Harrison, of Bamberg County, and express their appreciation for his success in preserving the rural history of our State through his magnificent paintings.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Jim Harrison.
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