St. Helena Island is located less than ten minutes from Beaufort, in the South Carolina Lowcountry. If you are coming from Savannah or Charleston, off of I-95, follow the signs for Beaufort, and then take Highway 21 (Sea Island Parkway) through Beaufort to St Helena Island. Here on St Helena Island the English language is softened into Gullah, and time is measured by tides and seasons, generations and celebrations.

The Corner Community, and the original Corner Store are named after the Corner Plantation. This store was the first store in South Carolina to pay people of color with money rather than barter for goods. There was no share-cropping on St. Helena Island, this resulted in an economic vibrancy unknown in other parts of the rural South. The people who were former slaves had purchased their land through The Reconstruction Policy. Land ownership is a hallmark of the native Gullah people.

A little further down highway 21 is the Red Piano Too Art Gallery, which features the work of over 150 Southern self-taught artists, including many pieces by the artists who first broke through the rules of fine art and brought us to our present day appreciation of this style. The gallery also represents local artists whose work vibrates with the culture of the low country.

The Red Piano Too Gallery is located in a 2,400 sq. foot building which was originally built about 1940. The structure was renovated in 1999. African-American landowners and farmers founded the co-operative after studying land use and agricultural techniques at Penn School. Penn School was the only school for freed former slaves that survived reconstruction. These island leaders from Penn School, traveled to Nova Scotia, Canada where they learned about agricultural co-operatives from Canadian farmers. The purpose of the Co-operative was to provide a market for the Island's agricultural products, and to provide, at a reasonable price, materials and supplies to area farmers. It was the first agricultural Co-operative of its kind in South Carolina.

Red Piano Too Gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00am to 5:00pm. We carry a number of books and other materials relating to the Gullah culture. Our gallery is often described as a museum. Clients tell us it is always an experience to visit the Red Piano Too.