Our May Artist in Residence was Charleston-based artist Leigh Magar. Leigh, previously of Magar Hatworks, is the founder of a new and exciting small-batch label, Madame Magar, inspired by Eliza Lucas Pinckney who brought indigo to the Lowcountry and made it a cash crop in the mid-1700s.

The label explores fashion, art, performance, and history. Magar grows indigo and other dye plants for use in her collections, interweaving nature and design. Applying simple sewing techniques, she creates one-of-a-kind hand-dyed and hand-stitched cotton dresses, accessories, and other sculptural art-fashion pieces.

Leigh's stay at Palmetto Bluff was filled with a Trunk Show Meet + Greet, a Lunch + Learn on the history of indigo in the Lowcountry, and dying classes that created beautiful tea towels and cocktail napkins.