Written by Merry Lee Jones
Photography by Donna Huffman

eople interested in art will look for it -- even in a town the size of Bluffton.

That’s what Bernie Haag, thought when he staged the grand opening of The Filling Station a few months ago. He previously had managed the very successful Calhoun Street Art Gallery for five years selling much of the same artist’s work that is in his new gallery.

I was scheduled to talk to Bernie early one summer morning. I pulled up in front of The Filling Station, got out of my car and moseyed on up to the gallery. I walked in. It was so peaceful and comfortable and I was welcomed by an array of spectacular art work. There was Bernie sitting behind the desk with his cup of coffee and readiness to show off the works. He immediately started walking me around and telling me the different stories about “his” artists. He has earned the right to be proud of this exceptional collection of work because the gallery reads like a “who’s who” of some of the finest artists the Lowcountry has to offer. Bernie told me he has twenty-six artists and twenty-three are local. I feel I need to name a few: Amos Hummell, Guido Petruzzi, Robert Highsmith, Blake Hampton, Art Cornell, Eric Horan, Ted Jordan, Kathy Levey, Rhonda Fontozzi, David Musial, Kelly Graham and he definitely wanted to make sure to mention his fifth grade aspiring artist, Haigler Woods.

The Filling Station Art Gallery was once the service bay for the old Messix Gas Station where Egg N Tricities is now. The center table in the gallery has been placed strategically over the hydraulic lift. This is a wonderful concept of reusing space that is part of the history of our town.

Bernie has combined the whimsical art with the serious in all varieties of mediums. Ranging from wrought iron to fused glass, all types of paintings, Kim Keat’s baskets made of local materials, books, note cards, hand towels and jewelry. Prices ranging from five dollars to twenty five hundred. If you are shopping for gifts that offer a local flavor you are sure to find what you are looking for at the Filling Station.

Most of the paintings and photographs are framed and hanging on display but there is a bin of matted and sealed images that you can browse through. The contemporary style as well as traditional is represented and everything is interesting.

Bluffton is a great little historic town for artists because the cost of living is low and the quality of life is high, especially for musicians and visual artists, who say they have a strong sense of creation here. Bernie mentioned that a least once a month the various artists will stop by to chat and see how sales were. And most of them are available for commissioned artwork.

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11-5 or as the sign out front says — Open most of the time.