Feature Articles


January Issue 2001

Carl Tunick Gallery New at Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC

The Gibbes Museum of Art, in historic downtown Charleston, SC, has offered the public another reason to visit, by the opening of its newest gallery, the "Carl Tunick Gallery," in memory of a former resident of Charleston and patron of the Gibbes. The Gallery opened to the public on Dec. 9.

This gallery is made possible by the thoughtfulness and generosity of Elena Ford and Joseph Rippolone of Grosse Point Farms, Michigan. The couple was close friends with Tunick when he was practicing law in New York, and decided after his death to create a new gallery at the Gibbes in his memory. The space that once served as the Gibbes' audiovisual room has now been transformed into a gallery for the Elizabeth Wallace Miniature Rooms.

The Wallace Miniature Rooms are some of the most popular items in the Gibbes permanent collection that also includes paintings, prints and drawings, photography, and sculpture. The miniature room collection consists of the replication of eight rooms from historic American buildings and two other rooms in historical French styles. Charleston's celebrated Nathaniel Russell House and Savannah's notable Owens-Thomas House are two of the buildings represented.

All of the Wallace Miniature Rooms follow the standard reduction rate of one inch to the foot, and all of the furniture and furnishings are rendered proportionately. The late Elizabeth Wallace of Hilton Head, SC, the donor of the ten rooms at the Gibbes, had been a collector and maker of miniature rooms since she was 12. She decided however that she wanted a public home for her collection where others could view the fascinating world of miniatures while learning about historic architecture and interior decoration.

For more information on the Carl Tunick Gallery or the Elizabeth Wallace Miniature Rooms, call the Gibbes at 843/722-2706 or on the web at (http://www.gibbes.com)

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