19th-century house hosts spiritual arts residency in downtown Charleston

A restored 1870s house on Rutledge Avenue is home to the Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts, which offers six-week residencies for artists and scholars to explore spirituality and faith while engaging with the Charleston community.

Behind a wrought-iron gate on Rutledge Avenue, a restored 1870s house serves as a residency for artists and scholars exploring spirituality and faith. The Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts was founded in 2021 by Tyler Rollins and offers six-week fall and spring residencies. Residents live and work on the property, which includes studios, living spaces and a garden designed with distinct outdoor rooms and water features. The program combines quiet retreat and art-making with community programming across Charleston. Key details: - The foundation was started in 2021 by New York gallerist-turned-Charlestonian Tyler Rollins and operates from a main house built in 1870. - Rollins restored interiors, updated lighting and living spaces, and repaired an 1820s kitchen house; a new carriage house was built with Carpenter Gothic interior elements. - The residency runs in six-week fall and spring terms and has hosted 20 residents to date, including current artist-in-residence Sonam Dolma from Switzerland and scholar-in-residence Amanda Sroka from Los Angeles. - Residents engage with local organizations through workshops, talks, performances and exhibitions, and some have created site-specific works in Charleston venues. - A public performance and ceremony led by Sonam Dolma is scheduled for April 12 at 2:30 p.m. in the College of Charleston's Cistern Yard, with an installation to follow at the Albert Simons Center for the Arts. Summary: The program offers a gardened, private setting intended to support research, contemplation and art-making while fostering dialogue between visiting artists and the Charleston community. It has produced talks, installations and commissioned works that connect to local religious and cultural life, and a public performance and installation by the current resident is scheduled for April 12.