This year’s Spoleto Festival USA highlight is the internationally acclaimed Porgy and Bess, a new production of George Gershwin’s opera, which was inspired by Charleston businessman DuBose Heyward’s novel Porgy, the first major Southern novel to portray the lives of Charleston’s sea island culture. In celebration, visual concepts designed by local artist Jonathan Green have splashed into the streets of Charleston.
Spoleto Festival USA invites you to honor Charleston’s soulful history by visiting The Porgy Houses, a series of nine Charleston residencies that have been embellished with West-African design motifs, as seen in the final act of Porgy and Bess. Each of the nine dwellings has been selected due to its significance in African-American history.
Ready to explore? Download your map to get started and dive deep into the roots of the Gullah culture.