‘There’s really nothing down here.’ Vintage shop seeks to fill art void in Myrtle Beach area
Walking into Fringe, a vintage shop hidden inside of an hold house in Murrells Inlet, you’d have no idea there is an art gallery tucked in the back corner upstairs.
Yet once newcomers stumble across the gallery, it’s unlikely to come as a surprise, as the art hung up on its walls matches the eclectic feeling of the rest of the shop, whose full name is Funky Fresh Fringe, A Vintage Shop.
The art gallery opened two weeks ago and could serve as an example of the importance of artistic spaces in the Myrtle Beach area, which unlike Columbia, Charleston or Greenville, lacks much in the way of an art scene.
“There’s really nothing down here,” owner Randy Daniel said. What the region does have is “not really a lot of local artists. So, we felt like there was an opportunity there, a vacuum, a void.
“We’re in phase one of what we think is going to be a phase 10 kind of a thing,” he added. “This is just budding. It’s not a huge amount of space, but it’s space — space that’s needed for these artists to hang their work and get exposure.”
Randy Daniel opened Fringe five years ago with his wife, Burke. Both had long been involved with the arts. Randy Daniel majored in music in college, and Burke Daniel is a former professional dancer.
The shop was originally located in Surfside Beach, but the Daniels had their eye on Fringe’s current home in Murrells Inlet, just waiting for it to come up for rent. Finally, a few months back, it did, and after some renovations, Fringe moved in and opened in April. It’s next door to the restaurant Smugglers Den and could soon share the building with a bakery.
Randy Daniel said they weren’t struggling in Surfside Beach, but the difference in traffic at their new location has been astounding. Even though they are only 10 miles down the road, they get a lot of traffic from Charleston.
They feel like the general “vibe” of Murrells Inlet just fits their shop better, as well. In many ways, it makes sense. Many of the most prominent vintage shops in the Grand Strand are found near Murrells Inlet or Conway. Plus, one of the biggest homes for art in the Grand Strand, Brookgreen Gardens, is just 3 miles south, a four-minute drive on most days.
“I think it’s because of the vacuum,” Randy Daniel said. “I think it’s also because of the clientele in this area. I think we’ve hit a sweet spot.”
The art gallery, still in its infancy, has already garnered a lot of attention from both artists and buyers. Dozens attended the gallery’s opening on July 17, and Randy Daniel said he has a waiting list of nearly 15 artists who want to display at Fringe.
Steven White, an artist in the Columbia area who paints black and white portraits of both people and animals, is the gallery’s curator. He went to grade school with Burke Daniel and broached the idea of a gallery when he heard about their new shop location.
White then helped them set up the space, including helping hang drywall, and spent several weeks reaching out to local South Carolina artists to see if they would be interested in displaying.
He quickly found plenty of artists interested, and he’s already working on a lineup of new artists for the gallery’s next exhibit, which will open in October.
The strong interest “does show that there is definitely a need” for more art spaces, White said.
White said he feels honored to help run a gallery like Fringe. Not only is much of the art affordable — a couple hundred dollars for many of the pieces — but he said it’s nice to offer space exclusively to local artists in South Carolina because it can be particularly hard for new artists to get their work into a gallery at all.
“There’s a lot of people out there who actually need a place to exhibit,” he said. Plus, “Most tourists who come to the beach aren’t looking to spend $2,000 for a painting, although you might run across a nice piece of art for $200-$500 that (can serve) as a memento of their visits here in South Carolina.”
Brian Heckman’s art probably embodies the eclectic environment of Fringe more than anything else. His portrait of Bigfoot sitting on a tree stump in the middle of a forest (Heckman says people too often portray Bigfoot walking, but what if he needed to just sit and rest?) catches the eye of anyone who walks in.
Like its subject, the painting of Bigfoot is rather large, at least three, maybe four, feet tall. Heckman is used to selling his art at shows around the state, which he enjoys. But one perk of the gallery is “not having to haul around Bigfoot.”
Heckman said he hopes the gallery will also help open the eyes of locals to art beyond what they find at mass-market stores.
“I do feel like sometimes that South Carolina is not real appreciative of artist art,” he said. “It’s more of a place where people will go to Lowe’s and buy prints.”
Rebecca Horne, who primarily paints abstract works in shades of blue, said she loves the gallery because it gives her a chance to grow her client base. The location as well, on a major thoroughfare for travelers, adds to the benefit.
“It gives me an opportunity to branch out of my area (Columbia) just to maybe find some people who appreciate my art that would be coming from out of town,” Horne said. “They have such a cool little shop and to include an art gallery, they’re going to bring people that might not ever come into the shop.”
Not only does the gallery help Horne personally, she said she hopes younger people who stumble across it will feel motivated to pursue their own artistic passions.
“There’s so much talent that we have here and so many different types of art that can be offered,” Horne said. “It’s really exciting and really important for new artists or people who have always wanted to be an artist and probably inspire them to follow their dream. It gives them opportunities that they wouldn’t have otherwise.”
This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
