Two Walker Gamble Elementary School students will see their artwork displayed as part of one of South Carolina’s most recognizable arts festivals this spring, with both young artists selected for the ArtFields Jr. program in Lake City.
Paislee McElveen of Turbeville and Callie Purvis of Greeleyville, both 10 years old, were chosen to exhibit their work through ArtFields Jr., a statewide youth arts program open to South Carolina students in grades 1 through 12. Their selected pieces are being displayed during the 2026 ArtFields Festival, which began Friday, April 10, and continues through May 2 in Lake City.
Winners will be announced May 2 during an awards ceremony. After the competition, ArtFields Jr. artwork will travel to communities across South Carolina as part of a tour aimed at encouraging youth engagement in the arts.
For Walker Gamble art teacher Jessie Welch, having two students selected in the same year is a proud moment. For the girls, it is a chance to see their creativity move beyond the classroom and into a festival that draws artists and visitors from across the region.
McElveen’s selected piece, “Daydreaming Dock,” is a colored pencil landscape inspired by a familiar scene close to home. The 10-year-old said the image came from a dock in front of her house, where the sunset often settles in just the right place.
“There’s a dock right in front of my house, and the sun sits right above it,” Paislee said.
The result is a peaceful lakeside scene filled with warm color and reflection, a natural fit for a young artist who says she has been making art for as long as she can remember.
“I’ve been doing art since forever,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t even know.”
Paislee said colored pencils are her favorite medium, and landscapes are among the subjects she enjoys most. She has attended ArtFields before and said seeing other students’ and artists’ work has helped shape her own ideas over time.
“I like how I get to see every other drawing, and those inspired me to draw new drawings,” she said.
Among her favorite memories are the sculptures. “I like all those sculptures that they do,” she said, recalling one piece that looked like “a big fish in the ocean.”
This year, instead of simply walking through the festival as a young visitor, she will be part of it.
Paislee said Welch played a big role in helping her take that step. “He’s the one that actually put it into it,” she said. “He inspires me to do most of my drawings. He helps me a lot.”
At home, her creativity is just as constant. Her mother, Susan McElveen, said art supplies have a way of taking over the house.
“She is very creative … she turns my bar into her little art studio,” Susan said, laughing. “There’s always paint or clay or colored pencils or cardboard everywhere.”
Still, she said the mess is easy to live with when it comes from something her daughter loves so much.
“It was very exciting,” Susan said of learning Paislee had been selected. “One of those little proud moments, because she’s always doing something around the house, so it’s nice for her to be honored.”
Susan said Paislee has long preferred creating her own pieces rather than choosing something off a shelf. When the family remodeled their home several years ago, she said her daughter decided she did not want store-bought artwork in her bedroom.
“She did three different panels and painted all of them to go together in her room,” Susan said. “She’s very different. She doesn’t want something that someone else has. She wants something original.”
Purvis took a very different artistic path to ArtFields Jr. Her selected piece, “The Black Hole,” is a 3-D sculpture made with cardboard, wire, plaster gauze, acrylic paint and tape. In her artist statement, Callie said the sculpture captures a cube being pulled into a black hole and was designed to look as though it is floating in midair just before it is consumed.
She said each side of the cube features a different color because bright color is one of her favorite elements to work with.
Asked why she chose sculpture instead of drawing or painting, Callie did not hesitate. “Because I think it’s cooler doing 3D stuff,” she said. “Some people might think it’s cooler to do it on paper, but I like doing 3D stuff.”
She said the idea for the piece came naturally.
“It just popped in my head,” she said.
Callie said she enjoys working in other forms, too, including pottery. She said she likes using the pottery wheel in art class and even has a small one at home.
“One time I made a donut,” she said.
Callie worked on the sculpture over the course of a few weeks in both art class and art club. While this will be her first time attending ArtFields, she is already looking forward to seeing the festival in person and having her own work included.
When her mother, Ashley Still, called to tell her she had been selected, Callie said she was “really excited.” Still said that excitement came as no surprise.
“I was very proud of her,” Still said. “She is a very good artist. She does love art.”
This spring, both girls will head to Lake City not just to admire the work around them, but to see their own creations included in it, a full-circle moment for two Walker Gamble students whose art is already reaching beyond the classroom walls.
