meet the artists
meet the artists
corey alston
Corey Alston is a man who has been recognized by many for his tireless effort to keep his heritage alive for his generation. He has been featured on magazines, TV shows, and world-renowned museums. You can find in mostly keeping his artform alive by keeping the world informed on social media sites. Corey is a direct dependent of enslaved Africans and is proud to teach others about his heritage by doing public educational talks all over the country. Corey is a fifth generation Sweetgrass Basket Weaver and currently runs the family business in the Charleston City Market. Sweetgrass Basket Weaving has been a major part of the Gullah Geechee Culture, dating back to days of Enslavement. This coastal artform has been recognized as South Carolina State Handcraft and has been known to be found to be kept alive the longest along Sweetgrass Basket Makers HWY of South Carolina. This skill is one of the rare arts of our country that is founded nowhere else in America.
chef sarah
Meet the driving force behind The Carolina Chef, our head chef, Sarah. From a young age, Sarah's playground was the kitchen, where she honed her skills in kneading biscuits and baking sweets with her family. This early love for food led her to pursue a career in culinary arts. She earned her business degree with a concentration in culinary arts and furthered her expertise in baking and pastry at the Culinary Institute of Charleston.
Throughout her culinary journey, Sarah has gathered hands-on experience, perfecting everything from pecan pie at Magnolia's to crafting pastries and designing wedding cakes on Kiawah Island. However, her true calling emerged when she transitioned from restaurant and corporate kitchens to becoming a personal chef.
Today, Sarah's joy lies in creating local, seasonal meals that offer a personal touch, helping families and friends forge lasting memories in the heart of their own kitchens. Her commitment to excellence and her love for sharing exceptional culinary experiences drive everything we do at The Carolina Chef.
kristy bishop
Kristy Bishop is multidisciplinary artist whose work is rooted in weaving and textiles. Her weavings combine bright, contrasting colors with bold patterns, playful lines, and heavy metallic fringe. Through slow material practice, Bishop explores the tactile relationship we have with cloth. The repetition of physical movement involved in creating a woven structure yields itself to an act of ritual and reverence for textiles, whether they are for utility, art, clothing, or comfort.
Kristy is a teaching artist focusing on textile practices. She travels for artist residencies in public schools all over South Carolina, hosts adult workshops, and summer camps. Kristy partners with Engaging Creative Minds, the Charleston Museum, McClellanville Arts Council, and the Gibbes Museum of Art to facilitate workshops. In August of 2019, Kristy was the artist-in-residence at the Gibbes Museum of Art where she focused on large-scale weaving. During the fall of 2015, Kristy participated in a three-month residency at 701 Center for Contemporary Art concluding with the solo exhibition, Bound. In 2016, Kristy was awarded the South Carolina Artists’ Ventures Initiative (AVI) Grant to expand her studio practice. She was the 2012-2013 Artist-in-Residence for the City of North Charleston. Since 2020, Kristy Bishop has been a Certified Teaching Artist through the South Carolina Arts Commission. Currently, her work was on view in the exhibition, Material World, presented by the Arts Council of Fayetteville and Cumberland County.