How do you fit the State Fair rocket, Adluh building on a bus? An artist found a way

Artist Laurie McIntosh loves Columbia, the city that is neither the queen of the coast nor the prince of the Upstate, and her affection for it can be found — wait for it — on a COMET bus.

“I had my artwork on a billboard on I-20 for a couple of years,” McIntosh laughed, “so why not a bus? I mean, how exciting to have a bus! It moves around and everybody sees it, and you can even get inside it.”

Indeed.

The COMET bus in question, which will roll onto city streets in the next few weeks, has been “wrapped” with McIntosh’s artwork, a delightful take on Columbia’s iconic areas, landmarks and images. The more you look, the more you will see.

The man taking a bath above the entrance to Yesterdays Restaurant in Five Points. The Adluh Flour mill looming over the Vista. The Rocket aimed skyward on the State Fairgrounds. The Sylvan’s Jewelers clock telling time on Main Street. The gigantic ice cream cone tempting sweet teeth at Zesto in West Columbia. You get the gist.

McIntosh was chosen by the nonprofit organization, One Columbia, to produce the artwork for the bus. One Columbia is an office of cultural affairs and, among other things, commissions works of public art for the city.

“How they picked me, I don’t know,” McIntosh said.

“Maybe they thought it was up my alley. Line- and color-driven art. Being an illustrator, a graphic designer and a painter, I was able to put all my stuff together with this project. Most of my work is storytelling, really, so it was my way of telling my Columbia story.”

McIntosh grew up in Greenville and went to the University of South Carolina, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. She has studied at art institutions around the country, and she is the creative director of Brownell McIntosh Graphic Design Inc. She and her husband, Duncan, made a home on Gervais Street for many years before moving to Camden three years ago.

“We found a (Camden) home that we loved. It was a way to shake things up in our lives. It was built in 1885. It had racoons living in it.”

But make no mistake about it, Columbia still has a huge place in her heart.

“I love Columbia. I love the people of Columbia. I don’t love the hot summers, but I love Columbia’s location and I love its energy. I fell more in love with Columbia as it grew. (Former Mayor) Bob Coble and all his work. The Main Street renovations. The Vista. The university. Columbia has had a bad rap. I get tired of that. Columbia is very alive. It has so many artists, and it has all sorts of nice secrets, which are getting out now.”

Like the bus, perhaps.

McIntosh began the project last fall, creating images on a computer screen and then moving to charcoal and paint on long sections of canvas (12 feet by 3 feet) attached to the brick walls of her Camden studio.

The process went smoothly until McIntosh was told that the bus windows could not be covered with wrap.

“I had to make sure my images did not land on windows. It was like moving puzzle pieces around.”

So, what’s it going to be like to see “her” bus rolling along its routes throughout the city?

“Well, hopefully, I can find it because I don’t know where the routes go, but, I think it’s going to make me laugh. I might just retire and ride around in it.”

Salley McInerney is a freelance writer who lives in Camden. Her novel, Journey Proud, is based upon growing up in Columbia in the 1960s. Salley may be reached by emailing salley.mac@gmail.com.

This story was originally published August 14, 2018 at 4:00 PM.