The dedication and opening of Coastal Carolina University's Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery will be held Thursday, Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. The art gallery is located in the new Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts Building. The dedication is free and open to the public.

The gallery's premiere exhibit features selections from the South Carolina State Art Collection, which will be on display through Nov. 23.

The State Art Collection is the most comprehensive public collection of works by contemporary South Carolina artists. Established in 1967 as one of the first programs of the South Carolina Arts Commission, the State Art Collection has grown to include more than 400 works in a variety of media and styles.

The purpose of the program is to create a collection of historic importance and cultural vitality for the people of South Carolina that will serve as a tool to help promote the state and its cultural resources on the state, regional, national and international levels; to make available to citizens throughout the state the best work of the state's contemporary artists; and to encourage and support the creative visual artists of South Carolina.

Bryan, who died Sept. 25, 1999, was a longtime friend and supporter of Coastal. An avid painter, she was devoted to the arts and attended many classes offered through Coastal's School of Continuing Studies. She also donated more than 200 books from her personal library to Coastal's Kimbel Library. Her $1.8 million bequest to Coastal represents the largest single cash gift ever made to the university. A future extension of Coastal's library also will be named in honor of the Bryan family.