Art, Design, and Collecting Come Together for GCMA’s 40th AFAD Weekend

The Greenville County Museum of Art (GCMA) celebrates the 40th anniversary of its Antiques, Fine Art & Design Weekend (AFAD), Oct. 16-18, 2026, bringing together art, antiques, interiors, and contemporary design for one of the museum’s most anticipated annual events.

For four decades, AFAD has connected collectors, designers, and art enthusiasts with distinguished dealers offering fine art, furniture, decorative arts, jewelry, and objects representing a range of periods and styles. This year’s milestone weekend expands that tradition with special presentations highlighting the ways fine art and contemporary design intersect.

Among the weekend’s featured artists and designers are Liz Rundorff Smith and Teresa Roche, whose work brings a distinctly contemporary and local perspective to AFAD. Based in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, Rundorff Smith creates paintings exploring memory, nostalgia, and the passage of time. Drawing inspiration from domestic spaces, keepsakes, and everyday objects, she uses color, pattern, and decorative elements to elevate the ordinary.

Roche, founder of Teresa Roche Textiles and Greenville’s Art & Light Gallery, brings an artist’s sensibility to textiles, pattern, and interior design. Her work celebrates the relationship between art and the spaces we inhabit. Together, Rundorff Smith and Roche created The Alchemy Collection, a collaboration that transforms original paintings into sophisticated patterns for fabric and wallpaper.

Their work demonstrates how an original piece of art can move beyond the canvas, taking on a new life through textiles and interior spaces. The artists will discuss their individual practices and collaborative process during a special AFAD presentation on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 2 p.m. at GCMA. Original paintings, Teresa Roche Textiles, and designs from The Alchemy Collection will be featured during the weekend. Also featured during AFAD will be Baxter Mill Archive, one of the largest privately held collections of historic textile and surface design in North America.

The archive encompasses nearly two million original documents, textiles, garments, hand-painted artworks, swatches, and rare textile books spanning five centuries and cultures from around the world. AFAD also offers visitors the opportunity to browse and purchase from participating dealers throughout the weekend, making the event as much about discovery as collecting. From historic objects and traditional antiques to fine art and contemporary design, the show reflects the evolving ways people collect and live with art.

Admission is free to the show Oct. 16–18 at the Greenville County Museum of Art, 420 College St. in downtown Greenville. The 2026 weekend also features acclaimed interior designer Alexa Hampton as special guest. Hampton’s Friday keynote has sold out.

For the complete AFAD schedule and additional information, visit gcma.org.