COLUMBIA, S.C. (June 10, 2015)—The Congaree Vista Guild, a non-profit, membership-based organization made up of a wide variety of restaurant, shop, business and gallery owners, homeowners and museums in the Vista, announces its plans for June 2015’s Vista Nights. This event, which is free and open to the public and takes place on the third Thursday of each month, is Thursday, June 18, 5-8 p.m. 

The Vista Guild organizes this event to offer later shopping hours at our most popular galleries and retailers on Thursday evenings, which are already bustling with diners and hotel guests in the neighborhood’s restaurants and bars. 

May Vista Nights participating galleries include:
 

302 Artisans at Senate’s End, 302 Senate Street. Offering Dabble and Drink art classes by Brenda Konitzer of Gates of O’brillin from 6 – 8 p.m. This month, participants will have the chance to decorate their own Steampunk trinket boxes and can bring in old jewelry, watches, lace, photos or other small items to decorate their boxes. Light hors d’oeuvres are provided and there is a food truck on site to purchase food. This class is $35 (all supplies are included) and attendees can bring their own alcoholic beverages. Register in advance by calling 803-238-6019.

·       Ellen Taylor Interiors, 1012 Gervais Street. Serving wine and showing new works by Blue Sky.

·       City Art Gallery, 1224 Lincoln Street. Hosting an opening reception for “Rhythm, Balance and Space,” celebrating Eva Carter’s 50 years of creating iconic images on canvas.

if ART Gallery, 1223 Lincoln Street. Featuring “Origins 2000-2002,” by Peter Lenzo and Joe Scotchie-Lenzo, a father-son collaboration of face jugs.

Lewis+Clark, 1001 Huger Street. Featuring Robot Electric Belly: The Royal Claw, Green Bot and Bot Standard: new charging stations for your devices. 

·       Studio Cellar, 912 Lady Street. Offering 10 percent discount on painting class during Vista Nights. Instructors will walk participants through painting step-by-step. Register in advance and use coupon code “june14” for discount at studiocellar.com.

Vista Studios/Gallery 80808, 808 Lady Street. Presenting an opening reception for “Faust’s Photography: From the Realistic to the Abstract,” photography by Faust Pauluzzi. Compelling images by Pauluzzi, a former USC professor of Italian, shot in Italy, Chile and the United States, are printed in large format for this show.

“Thursday evenings are always alive in the Vista with diners packing our restaurants and tourists in our hotels,” said Richard Burts, president of the Congaree Vista Guild Board of Directors. “We’re excited that Vista Nights has become a regular monthly events, where many of our businesses will stay open beyond their regular business hours. Shoppers can wind their way through the Vista and stay to eat at one of our restaurants or attend a special event at one of our museums.”

Parking, as always, is easily accessible in the Vista’s parking garages at 820 Washington Street and at the corner of Senate and Pendleton Streets behind the Hilton hotel. 

For more information about the Vista, please visit www.VistaColumbia.com or call (803) 269.5946. Follow the Vista Guild on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook.