Coastal Discovery Museum retrospective honors Hilton Head’s Round Table artists

The Coastal Discovery Museum will open a new exhibition Nov. 12th highlighting the influential group of artists known as the Round Table, whose weekly gatherings helped shape Hilton Head Island’s art community from the 1970s through the mid-1990s.

Titled It’s Thursday! Artists of the Round Table, the retrospective will feature about 80 works drawn from private collections and new museum acquisitions. The exhibition runs through March 23rd, 2026, at the museum’s galleries on the Honey Horn campus. An opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 13th, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The Round Table artists include Aldwyth, Ralph Ballantine, Joe Bowler, Danielle DeMers, Joe DeMers, Ray Ellis, Elizabeth Grant, Walter Greer, Tua Hayes, Katy Hodgman, Louanne LaRoche, Allen Palmer, Marge Parker, George Plante, and Coby Whitmore. The group met every Thursday at The Red Piano Gallery to share ideas and critique one another’s work.

“We are thrilled to present this historically significant exhibition that captures a remarkable time in Hilton Head’s art community,” said Elizabeth Greenberg, the museum’s director of exhibitions. “I would have loved to have been at their Thursday meetings and listened to these influential artists talk about their craft.”

The exhibition will also display memorabilia, photographs, and articles about the artists, including writings by Christian Science Monitor art critic Theodore F. Wolff, who was a favorite of the group. The original red grand piano from The Red Piano Gallery and the round wooden table where the artists met will also be on display.

Louanne LaRoche, who owned The Red Piano Gallery and loaned the piano to the museum, reflected on her experience as the youngest member of the Round Table. “At 25, I was just a kid stepping into the world of the Round Table’s legendary artists,” LaRoche said. “They took me under their wings, teaching, inspiring, and supporting me. Their voices still echo in spirit today.”

LaRoche will speak at the museum on Dec. 4th as part of its Legends & Luminaries series, one of several programs marking the Coastal Discovery Museum’s 40th anniversary.

Free curator-led tours of the exhibition are scheduled for Dec. 16th at 1 p.m.; Jan. 22nd at 1 p.m.; Feb. 24th at 11 a.m.; and March 14th at 11 a.m.

Founded in 1985, the Coastal Discovery Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate and nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the natural and cultural history of the Lowcountry. More information is available at www.coastaldiscovery.org