S.C. Arts Awards: Bank of America

2018 Recipient Feature Series

As the day nears for the 2018 South Carolina Arts Awards, The Hub is taking 10 days to focus on this year’s 10 recipients: five receiving the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Governor’s Awards for the Arts and five receiving the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award, which are managed jointly by the South Carolina Arts Commission and McKissick Museum at USC.

This week, the Verner Awards recipients are featured.


Bank of America

Business Category

Bank of America has a rich history of commitment to the arts, which translates into global programs as well as local support for what is most relevant in each community it serves. The bank is one of the leading supporters of the arts globally because they believe that a thriving arts and culture sector benefits economies and societies. The bank supports nonprofit arts institutions that deliver both visual and performing arts, provide inspirational and educational sustenance, anchor communities, create jobs, complement school curricula and generate substantial revenue for local businesses. This sustained commitment not only has helped these institutions flourish, but helps the bank make an important connection to the communities it serves.

Just in the last few years in South Carolina, Bank of America has given more than $2 million in support for the arts. Support has been wide in scope across many geographies and arts organizations in the state. A few of the organizations that have received their support over the years include Spoleto USA, Columbia Museum of Art, Gibbes Museum of Art, Chapman Cultural Center, Arts Partnership of Spartanburg, Peace Center, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, S.C. Philharmonic, and Broadway in Columbia.

In addition to local grants and sponsorships that the bank has given to support South Carolina arts institutions, Bank of America encourages its 1,500 South Carolina employees to volunteer locally either through Bank of America Community Volunteers organized outreach events or through whatever organization is most important to them. Every employee is offered two hours per week for community volunteerism. In the last five years, South Carolina employees have invested 81,000 volunteer hours. Another important way that Bank of America employees give of their leadership in the community is through board service. Three Bank of America executives in South Carolina serve on the boards of Gibbes Museum of Art and Spoleto USA in Charleston and Columbia Film Society/Nickelodeon Theatre in Columbia. A fourth will join the board of the S.C. Philharmonic in 2018.

To learn more about Bank of America’s corporate commitment to the arts, visit BankOfAmerica.com/Arts.


South Carolina Arts Awards Day is Wednesday, May 2, 2018. Gov. Henry McMaster will present each recipient’s award beginning at 10:30 a.m. in the State House. The event is open to the public. Following the ceremony, the South Carolina Arts Foundation honors the recipients and the arts community at the S.C. Arts Awards Luncheon and Art Sale. Tickets are $50. Please go here for more information and reservations.