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Donnelley Foundation grants to help tell underrepresented stories

The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation (the Foundation)—which supports land conservation, artistic vitality, and regional collections for the people of the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Chicago—announced the 11 recipients of the its groundbreaking “Broadening Narratives” initiative, which aims to fund specific collections projects that bring forward underrepresented stories.

This announcement represents the second round of organizations to receive the Broadening Narratives grant. The projects collectively illustrate BIPOC communities, LGBTQ+ perspectives, working-class narratives, small community experiences, as well as other underrepresented groups and viewpoints.  The three Lowcountry-based projects or organizations are Clemson University, the Gibbes Museum of Art, and The Educational Foundation of the University of South Carolina Lancaster’s Native American Studies Center. The eight Chicago-based organizations are the Bronzeville Black Chicagoan Historical Society, Chicago History Museum, Chicago Public Art Group, Lewis University, Muslim American Leadership Alliance, Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, South Side Community Art Center, and Trickster Cultural Center. Additionally, the foundation renewed its $25,000 grant to each of the five Broadening Narratives advisory groups that assisted with the formation of that funding initiative: the College of Charleston’s Lowcountry Digital Library, Southeastern Museums Conference, Black Metropolis Research Consortium, Chicago Collections Consortium, and the Chicago Cultural Alliance. “While the purpose of collections is to ensure that stories are preserved, many narratives are often overlooked because of decisions based on race, gender, sexual identity, educational background, economic or social status, or because they are perceived to be outside the conventional thinking of the day,” said David Farren, foundation executive director. “We are thrilled to announce these grant recipients and want to thank these organizations for being part of this new way forward in collections thinking that shifts focus from the processing of material objects to the telling of broader and more inclusive narratives.” The Lowcountry-based organizations and projects to be funded by Broadening Narratives:
  • Clemson University will partner with the nationally registered Seashore Farmers’ Lodge and the Sol Legare community to provide collections management training; conduct conservation assessment, treatment, and interpretation for objects in the collection; and develop manuals for ongoing care and management. The project will shed light on the site, which was once the heart and backbone of the early African-American community providing farmers aid and insurance in a time of need in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
“The historic African American community of Sol Legare in the Lowcountry of South Carolina is unique in the measures that community members have taken to interpret and preserve their history in the built environment and cultural objects,” says Dr. Jon Marcoux, director of Clemson's Historic Preservation program.  “The community’s historical importance has gone unrecognized in broader narratives of the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and Civil Rights eras. The project has the authenticity of fourth-generation residents playing an intricate role in protecting hundreds of donated objects that represent the full 150-year-old history of Sol Legare. We are honored to partner with the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation to preserve and share this significant collection.”
  • The Gibbes Museum of Art will create an exhibition drawing parallels between noted Charleston Renaissance artist Ned Jennings and British Aesthete and artist Aubrey Beardsley, re-contextualizing the Renaissance by examining the historically taboo topic of LGBTQIA+ contributions to the art world, still largely untold in the South. In particular, the exhibit will consider the role of queer artists in the Charleston arts community and the influence of queer aesthetics on the Charleston Renaissance via an exploration of Jennings’ works and life.
“By considering the impact of the British Aestheticism movement of the late 19th century on one of Charleston’s most original artistic minds, Edward “Ned” I.R. Jennings, we’re able to engage in a long overdue conversation about the LGBTQIA+ influences, histories, and kinship networks that existed between World Wars I and II when the visual arts flourished; a period that would become known as the Charleston Renaissance,” Gibbes Museum of Art Executive Director Angela Mack said. “Thanks to the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation’s commitment to telling this story, we are able to reengage with the work of an artist whose life was tragically cut short and whose originality and impact for too long has been marginalized.”
  • The Educational Foundation of the University of South Carolina Lancaster’s Native American Studies Center (NASC) will continue its study of South Carolina’s Native American peoples, their histories, and their cultures by gathering oral histories, artifacts, and conducting research related to Lowcountry tribes. The Lowcountry was a significant site for Native American tribes across the region for trade and was a nexus for interaction with European settlers and enslaved Africans.
“Very little scholarly work has been done to document and preserve the living traditions of South Carolina Native Americans, particularly in the Lowcountry. The small, often isolated but vibrant Native communities have existed largely under the radar of outside scholars. Some members of these communities were enslaved by European colonists; others found their tribal communities driven to near extinction. Some identified, at times, as white; others were labeled as African American. With the generous support of the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the NASC will help document, preserve, and share these rich cultural traditions maintained by the life experiences and in the memories of the elders and leaders of these communities,” said Dr. Stephen Criswell, NASC Director. Criswell, Hub readers might remember, is a 2018 recipient of the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award. The Gibbes Museum is a 2019 recipient of the South Carolina Governor's Award for the Arts. Readers curious about the Chicago-based grant recipients can read more about them here.
About Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation supports land conservation, artistic vitality, and regional collections for the people of the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina. For over five years, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation has convened five advisory groups to assist with the formation and execution of the Broadening Narratives funding initiative by providing important feedback, keeping the Foundation apprised of trends in the field, and serving as valuable connectors and conveners. The groups include Black Metropolis Research Consortium, Chicago Collections Consortium, Chicago Cultural Alliance, College of Charleston’s Lowcountry Digital Library, and the Southeastern Museums Conference. For more information on the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, visit www.gddf.org.

Jason Rapp

College of Charleston readies for Simons Center renovation

Multimillion-dollar update begins this month

[caption id="attachment_47756" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Click image to enlarge. Provided rendering.[/caption]

The Albert Simons Center for the Arts will be closed for the next two years while the 42-year-old building undergoes an extensive multimillion-dollar renovation.

“This has been a long time coming and we’re delighted,” School of the Arts Dean Edward Hart said. “We are so appreciative of the college’s administration for supporting us. You know, when times are tough, very often the arts take it on the chin. And our administration has shown the foresight to really stand by us with this project, which indicates that the arts really are a priority for the college.” Completed in 1979, the Simons Center, located on St. Philip Street in the heart of the College of Charleston campus, was constructed to serve no more than 800 students. Today the facility serves more than five times that number—and, says Hart, as the hub of the School of the Arts, it’s time to update the classrooms and performance spaces as well as the building’s technology and infrastructure. “The Simons Center has been great, but after 40 years, it needs a little work,” he said. “Better facilities make for a better environment. Everybody wants to be in a place where it looks and feels nice, and where there’s appropriate space.” The project includes renovation of almost 87,400 square feet. Around 10,900 square feet will be demolished, and 22,871 square feet of new building space will be constructed, said Brad Weiland, senior project manager for CofC’s Facilities Management. When the renovation is complete, the updated Simons Center will feature just over 99,000 square feet of classroom and performance space. Upgrades will include:
  • New seminar classrooms, as well as updated and enlarged classroom spaces
  • A new two-story black box theater
  • A state-of-the-art costume shop, scene shop and theater design studio
  • All new sculpture, printmaking and drawing studios
  • A digital lab and gallery/multipurpose room
  • New music practice rooms and revamped dressing room spaces
  • New mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and updated technological systems
Crews spent the summer moving everything out of the center in preparation of construction, which is to begin in late September. “It was really a logistical jigsaw puzzle trying to figure out where everything was going to go,” Hart said, noting that moving pianos, studio art equipment along with typical classroom furniture was a lengthy process with some items being sent to other locations on campus and others now in storage. Five locations around campus will house School of the Arts programs and departments during the renovation:
  • Harbor Walk West will host offices, classrooms and event spaces for the Department of Art and Architectural History as well as the Arts Management Program. Some music classes will also take place at this location.
  • 136 St. Philip Street (the former site of Redux Contemporary Art Studio) will house the theater and dance scene shop and the Department of Studio Art’s sculpture studio.
  • The third floor of the Lightsey Center will serve as the Department of Studio Art’s offices and printmaking studio as well as drawing studios, which were already housed there.
  • Calhoun Annex (172 Calhoun St./Chapel Theatre) will house the Department of Theatre and Dance design studio.
  • The Department of Theatre and Dance’s costume shop and classroom/meeting facilities will span three floors of the historic building at 329 King St. (corner of King and George streets).
With the Recital Hall and the Emmett Robinson Theatre, located within the Simons Center, closed for the duration of the renovation, many School of the Arts performances will be held in the college’s Sottile Theatre as well as the Chapel Theatre. The renovation will begin with the demolition of the back portion of the building where the new sculpture studio and scene shops will be located. Weiland says demolition of the section of the building near the Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts along St. Philip Street will also begin this fall to make way for the new black box theater. The courtyard on St. Philip Street will also see demolition before the end of the year in preparation for a new front entrance and courtyard. “Construction will run through 2022, and major completion of the building will take place in the spring of 2023 through the summer of 2023. The project is tentatively scheduled to be fully completed and turned over to the College in time for an estimated opening for the fall 2023 semester,” Weiland said. Designed by Liollio Architecture and HGA Design Firm, the reimagined Simons Center will have a bright and colorful ambiance that is inviting to students and visitors. Hart says the colors featured throughout the building are inspired by iconic architectural features found on campus such as the blue-green door of Towell Library and the rich coral color of Randolph Hall. With large windows, a modern façade and carefully chosen brick, Hart says the entrance is meant to subtly grab visitors’ attention as they make their way from the rear of Randolph Hall to St. Philip Street. “It will look brighter, and I think it will be more noticeable from the street.” And the new building will give the School of the Arts the opportunity to visually claim its prominence in the city of Charleston’s vibrant arts scene in lock-step with the school’s new tagline branding itself “The Artistic Heartbeat of Charleston.” “There really isn’t an artistic institution in this town that we aren’t somehow involved with, whether it’s a direct relationship or partnership or whether it’s our graduates that are over there or our faculty members,” Hart said, ticking off the School of the Arts’ connections to Spoleto Festival USA, Piccolo Spoleto, the Charleston Symphony, the Charleston Gaillard Center, the Preservation Society of Charleston as well as area theater and dance companies and art galleries. “We can just go on and on, and I think it’s time for us to claim that. Charleston is an arts city and we’re at the heart of it.”

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Halsey Institute is hiring a development coordinator

  APPLICATION DEADLINE: Friday, June 11, 2021

Join a fast-growing contemporary art organization and help us secure the support needed to bring innovative and adventurous programming to the community!

The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston is searching for a development coordinator to help with our mission-centric fundraising efforts and be the main point of contact for our awesome members. This entry-level, full-time position works with our senior staff on the long-term strategic success and growth of our membership program and other funding initiatives like grants and our Community Partners program. Apply online and learn more about the position at https://jobs.cofc.edu/postings/10642.

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New leadership in place at CofC’s Halsey Institute

New executive director began April 1

Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston announced the appointment of its new executive director: recently promoted Katie Hirsch assumed her new role April 1.

Hirsch who was previously the museum's curator and director of strategic partnerships, was serving as interim director after the December 2020 retirement of long-time director Mark Sloan.

Related Hub content: Charleston scene takes on sea change in CHS, S.C. arts leadership.

Says Hirsch: “I am honored to be the new director of the Halsey Institute. It is a true privilege to lead the talented team that brings innovative artists to Charleston and beyond. I am eager to connect with our community in this new role, and to share the compelling programming that the Halsey has planned.” School of the Arts Dean Dr. Edward Hart says of the appointment, “We are thrilled that Katie Hirsch has accepted the appointment as the new Director of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. She brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the position, and her artistic vision, leadership skills, and enthusiasm will benefit this world-class institution for years to come.”

About Katie Hirsch

Katie Hirsch joined the Halsey Institute team in August 2016 and was most recently a Curator and the Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. Hirsch took the reigns as Interim Director on January 1, 2021 during the pandemic, so has had to make many tough decisions about accessibility, staffing, and programming in the most challenging of times. She has curated exhibitions on Roberto Diago and Coulter Fussell, among others. She served as Associate Curator for the Halsey Institute’s landmark 2018 exhibition Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South, for which she contributed to the catalogue. She is responsible for the Halsey Institute’s traveling exhibitions program, organizing nationwide tours of Southbound and exhibitions featuring the work of Fahamu Pecou, Jiha Moon, and Hitnes, among others. She is also an adjunct instructor of arts management at the College of Charleston. Katie Hirsch earned an MA with honors in Art History, Visual Cultures of the Americas from The Florida State University, and a BA and magna cum laude distinction in Art History, with a Minor in General Business from Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to the Halsey Institute, Hirsch worked for Spoleto Festival USA and island6 Arts Center in Shanghai, China. Before turning her focus to contemporary art, Hirsch specialized in the art and culture of the Maya. She brings not only a broad knowledge of art history and visual culture, but also the unconventional knowledge of the Yucatec Maya language, acquired through years of study in Mexico with support from government fellowships.

About the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art

The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston provides a multidisciplinary laboratory for the production, presentation, interpretation, and dissemination of ideas by innovative visual artists from around the world. As a non-collecting museum, the Halsey Institute creates meaningful interactions between adventurous artists and diverse communities within a context that emphasizes the historical, social, and cultural importance of the art of our time. Learn more.

Jason Rapp

College of Charleston posts two theatre jobs

Assistant Professor of Theatre - Lighting Design

  • APPLICATION DEADLINE: Friday, April 30, 2021
College of Charleston is accepting applications for a full-time, tenure-track appointment in the Department of Theatre and Dance, beginning August 16, 2021. The Department of Theatre and Dance is NAST accredited, offering BA and MAT degrees in Theatre and a BA in Dance. Seeking a candidate to teach electrics, CAD, design fundamentals, and advanced lighting design. Secondary areas are open, but may include Production/Stage Management, Video Design/Production, or Sound Design/Engineering. Candidate may teach introductory theatre and General Education courses. Online teaching experience is desired.

Qualifications

  • MFA in Lighting Design or Theatre Production by August 15, 2021;
  • Professional theatre experience theatre;
  • Undergraduate teaching experience preferred.

Full-time Instructor of Theatre, Non-Tenure-Track

  • APPLICATION DEADLINE: Friday, April 30, 2021
College of Charleston is accepting applications for nine-month, renewable, non-tenure track appointment in the Department of Theatre and Dance, contract beginning August 16, 2021. The Department of Theatre and Dance is NAST accredited, offering BA and MAT degrees in Theatre and a BA in Dance. Seeking a theatre generalist to teach introductory classes to majors and non-majors. Secondary areas of expertise are open, but may include Stage Management, Sound Design, Performance, or other. Aptitude and passion for online teaching is desirable.

Qualifications

  • MA, MFA or PhD required by August 15, 2021;
  • Professional experience in theatre;
  • Prior undergraduate teaching experience strongly preferred.
Apply at jobs.cofc.edu by using the links above. Questions regarding the position can be directed to Janine McCabe, department chair, at mccabej@cofc.edu. The College is located in historic downtown Charleston. Additional information about the institution and area available at www.cofc.edu. The College of Charleston is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any individual or group on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, race, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, or disability.

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Announcing the Dorothea Benton Frank Writing Series

College of Charleston to offer master classes, industry talks

The MFA of Creative Writing program at the College of Charleston is pleased to announce The Dorothea Benton Frank Writing Series (DBF).

This series will offer students meaningful opportunities to engage with established writers and professionals working in the field of publishing who can diversify and extend the literary conversation on campus beyond required coursework. The DBF Writing Series will have two components that will offer a balance of artistic and professional approaches to the writer’s life and work: the Master Class and Industry Talks. Each year, the master classes will bring two established writers with a national reputation to campus to meet with graduate students from the MFA program. The visiting writer will conduct a master class session featuring a craft talk, a workshop, critiques of student works-in-progress, writing exercises, and/or focused discussions on the writer’s development and career. Industry Talks will feature industry professionals to share their expertise and advice to help students understand the publishing industry and the profession of being a writer. The inaugural event will feature author Adriana Trigiani (right). On March 4, Trigiani will virtually deliver a reading from her latest novel, Tony’s Wife. The following day (March 5), she will teach a master class to CofC students. Trigiani is a New York Times bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction; an award-winning playwright, television writer and producer, and filmmaker; and the cofounder of the Origin Project, an in-school writing program for students in Appalachia.

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College of Charleston’s Valerie Morris announces retirement

Long-time, accomplished arts dean exiting the stage

For 22 years Valerie Morris, dean of the College of Charleston School of the Arts, has sat in the audience at music and dance performances, theater productions and art lectures and presentations.

She has served as a member of various boards and joined committees to raise funds. A perennial champion of the arts, Morris has always been there, standing off stage, determinedly cheering. And it’s an essential role in a city where the arts often take center stage. “I have known Dean Morris for years as a fellow Rotarian and through her leadership in Charleston’s thriving arts community,” says Charleston Mayor John T. Tecklenburg. “Simply put, she’s been amazing in her impact on the arts scene here in Charleston, along with her personal joie de vivre!”
Morris’s “joie de vivre” or enthusiasm for the arts began at a young age. Growing up in Beverly, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, she first became interested in the arts at the age of six after an aunt took her to see the movie Hans Christian Anderson starring Danny Kaye. Then she became very active in the local children’s theater and “used every excuse to spend backstage” at the North Shore Music Theatre, the largest operating regional theater in New England. “I guess from the age of 6, I always felt pushed towards the arts,” Morris said, noting that in high school her focus shifted to public speaking and promoting the arts, which won her an award for marketing her high school’s productions. “First, I wanted to perform, then I realized I wanted to be around artists of all types, and to help them achieve their goals.” And that first meant achieving her goals. Morris received her bachelor’s degree in speech arts from American University and a master in speech with a theatre administration emphasis from the University of Michigan. Her career in the arts really picked up when she joined the faculty of American University’s Department of Performing Arts, where she became the founding director of that institution’s Arts Management program. According to Karen Chandler, associate professor of arts management at the College, Morris forged a path for women in the field. “When I entered the field in the early ’80s, Valerie was one of a handful of women arts leaders who had founded and very successfully developed a program in arts management (at American University),” says Chandler, who also worked alongside Morris at American University.
Morris came to the College as dean of the School of the Arts in the fall of 1998. Since then, she has helped establish the undergraduate Arts Management Program and the Graduate Certificate in Arts and Cultural Management, as well as the Historic Preservation and Community Planning Program. Under Morris’s leadership, the School of the Arts has grown and flourished, including earning the South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Arts, the state’s highest award in the arts. Other highlights of Morris’ tenure include helping to launch the Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts in January 2010. The $27.2 million dollar, 70,000-square-foot building is a testament to the growth of the school from a small fine arts department into a comprehensive arts school with seven academic departments and programs. Morris also expanded the School of the Arts Council and, in 2003, established the Friends of the School of the Arts, a membership program that funds scholarships, student travel for competitions and productions, visiting artists, faculty research and development, and international recruitment efforts. And Morris’s hard work has garnered the attention and support of some of CofC’s most esteemed arts alumni, including acclaimed painter Brian Rutenberg (Class of 1987). “To excel as an artist, one needs to be organized, possess a clear-eyed vision and have a great sense of humor. These same qualities apply to leading an entire art school,” says Rutenberg. “Valerie has all of these attributes, plus she is a skillful communicator. Her creation is the world-class reputation that the School of the Arts at the College of Charleston enjoys today. We are all the beneficiaries of her effort.”
As for what comes next, Morris says her future will always include the arts as well as a focus on family. “I’m keeping active on local, regional and national boards,” she says. “Eventually, my husband and I plan to spend considerable time on the West Coast, where my children and grandchildren live.” To honor Morris’s 22 years of service to the College and the School of the Arts, longtime College of Charleston advocates, donors and volunteers Jean and Tap Johnson have established a scholarship in her name. It’s a fitting honor for someone who has done so much for CofC. “Valerie has been a consummate mentor, advisor and colleague over the past 25 years. But more importantly, she is a trusted supporter and dear friend,” says Chandler. “She deserves to do whatever she wants now, feeling satisfied about the outstanding contributions she’s made to the arts infrastructure in so many places – and especially here at CofC.”

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2020 College of Charleston theatre grad wins national award. Again.

[caption id="attachment_45697" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Noah Ezell headshot Noah Ezell.[/caption]

Recent College of Charleston alumnus Noah Ezell (2020) had completely forgotten about the award.

He’d entered his submission way back in January and, to be fair, there have been some major distractions since then. So, when he recently learned he’d won the 2020 national Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Undergraduate Theater Scholar Award, it was a welcome surprise—one the College of Charleston theatre major really needed. “This award reaffirmed for me something that felt a little more distant than it did in early March. I needed that reminder that this field is my home, that this is what I was designed to do,” Ezell said. His winning paper, “Metamodernism of the Oppressed: An Exploration of Metamodernism and Its Surfacing in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins ‘An Octoroon,’” was derived from his senior thesis paper. The KCACTF is a national theater program serving as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the U.S. In order to further student activity in the discipline of scholarship, the prestigious national awards program encourages and rewards research and scholarly writing among undergraduates throughout the nation. But this isn’t Ezell’s first national KCACTF award. Last year, he received the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA)/KCACTF Student Dramaturgy Award for his work on the college’s production of Marisol by José Rivera. “It was through the LMDA/KCACTF Student Dramaturgy Award that I made a network of artistic connections, and I was able to intern at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, one of the leading new play development centers in America,” Ezell said. “From there it’s just been a sort of spiral as my networks of connections and collaborators have grown, and my love for new plays and new play dramaturgy has expanded.”
  Since graduating in May, Ezell has stayed busy with several projects, carving out a place for himself in the professional theater world, one that has all but come to a standstill since the coronavirus pandemic. “Even though things aren’t what I thought they would be, I’m getting to create art with my friends, and that’s really soul filling for me,” says Ezell, who is currently serving as a dramaturg for a friend’s new play about queer bodies and trauma as well as a script reader for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, among other things. “I’m lucky that in the midst of all this I am still able to connect theatrically in all these different ways.” Ezell hopes to have a career both in new play development theater and, later, in academia. “Ultimately I am both an artist and an academic, which is why I love dramaturgy so much. It melds those two worlds in a very beautiful way,” he said. “At the core, though, I really just want to fully support myself with my art and help make art that is socially conscious, lifts up the voices of underrepresented groups and makes a difference in the world.”

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SCAC receives 2020 NEA funding

$864k grant supports agency's work

As a part of its regular grantmaking, the National Endowment for the Arts announces over $84 million for 1,144 new awards to organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and each of the five U.S. territories.

Grants will be awarded in 13 artistic disciplines, arts research, and partnership agreements with all U.S. state and regional arts agencies. They are separate from the NEA's grants related to CARES Act funding. In support of its work in arts education, artist development, and community arts development, the South Carolina Arts Commission, as a state arts agency, is receiving $864,000. In total, $1,006,500 is coming to South Carolina in this round. Other groups receiving funds are the College of Charleston, Columbia Film Society (2 awards), and The Watering Hole Poetry Org. Applications for these recommended grants were submitted to the Arts Endowment last summer and reflected the wide range of performances, exhibitions, and activities that the agency has traditionally funded. At the end of March 2020, the listed projects were approved, followed by two months of extensive technical assistance in which agency staff worked one-on-one with hundreds of organizations to adjust their projects to meet the new reality created by the pandemic. Changes include postponing activities and taking activities virtual as the examples below illustrate. As a result of this plus additional work related to the CARES Act, project descriptions are not being included in the grant lists accompanying this announcement. The most current information for all projects will be available on the agency’s grant search tool. “These awards demonstrate the continued creativity and excellence of arts projects across America and the nimbleness of our nation’s arts organizations in the face of a national crisis that shuttered their doors for months” said Mary Anne Carter, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “By funding arts projects in every U.S. state, territory, and the District of Columbia, the National Endowment for the Arts again celebrates the opportunity to make the arts available to every corner of the country and to see how the arts can heal and unite us.” Grants this round support a range of activities, including:
  • Arhoolie Foundation in El Cerrito, California is recommended for a $25,000 award to support enhancements of the organization’s website which will serve as a publicly available virtual museum honoring America’s diverse musical roots.
  • Miami Dade College will use their $25,000 grant to support Generation Genius, a literacy and learning initiative designed to engage youth of all ages in learning through reading and writing. Miami Book Fair will conduct fall 2020 activities virtually and are investing in significant new technology infrastructure to build online programming.
  • Art Mobile of Montana in Dillon is recommended for a $20,000 award to support a traveling exhibition and visual arts education program featuring original works by Montana artists. The program will provide resources for teachers in schools throughout the state with a focus on rural locations, including Native American reservations.
  • Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia will use their $65,000 award to support professional training programs for singers and opera performances. The summer residency will include career development seminars, voice lesson, language coaching, and more. Young artists will perform for virtual audiences in summer 2020.
  • Sunflower Music Festival in Topeka, Kansas is recommended for a $20,000 award to support their festival celebrating the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment. Rather than moving to a virtual platform, the festival is postponed until summer 2021.
  • Alliance for Media Arts + Culture in Spokane, WA is recommended for a $30,000 award to support the development of a suite of online professional resources as part of Arts2Work, an apprenticeship and workforce development program for media artists.
  • Transart & Cultural Services in New Paltz, New York is recommended for a $50,000 Our Town award to support the Kingston Pinkster Festival, a virtual festival celebrating African-American history, arts, and culture in the Hudson Valley region. The festival will engage residents by integrating arts and culture into strategies for addressing challenging local issues.
  • Polk County Iowa in Des Moines is recommended for a $125,000 Our Town award to support Shoreline Signals, a series of public art installations along the Central Iowa Water Trails System at the confluence of the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers. The initiative will engage residents of Des Moines in flood resiliency as well as water safety and access issues.
Grants in four funding categories are recommended this round, including Art Works, Our Town, Research Grants in the Arts, and State and Regional Partnerships. All current grants and project details can be viewed through the Arts Endowment’s recent grant search.

Art Works II: 1015 awards totaling $25,334,900

Art Works grants support artistically excellent projects that celebrate our creativity and cultural heritage, invite mutual respect for differing beliefs and values, and enrich humanity. For fiscal year 2020, the Arts Endowment encouraged applications that honor the Women’s Suffrage Centennial. Matching grants generally range from $10,000 to $100,000.

Our Town: 51 awards totaling $3,643,000

Our Town is the National Endowment for the Arts’ creative placemaking grants program. This year marks the tenth year of support for Our Town projects that integrate arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities by advancing local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes. Matching grants range from $25,000 to $150,000. The National Endowment for the Arts advances creative placemaking efforts through publications and resource development in addition to funding. Visit the Arts Endowment’s Creative Placemaking Resources page for details.

Research Grants in the Arts: 14 awards totaling $780,000

Research Grants in the Arts support research that investigates the value and/or impact of the arts, either as individual components of the U.S. arts ecology or as they interact with each other and/or with other domains of American life. Matching grants range from $10,000 to $100,000.

State and Regional Partnership Agreements: 64 awards totaling $54,296,000

Each year, the National Endowment for the Arts designates 40 percent of its grant-making budget to the state and regional arts organization through partnership agreements. Grants are awarded to the nation’s 56 state and territorial arts agencies and the six regional arts organizations. This funding enables these agencies and organizations to respond to priorities identified through public planning undertaken with their constituents, partners, and stakeholder as well as Arts Endowment objectives. It is from this category that the South Carolina Arts Commission's allocation came.
Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the Arts Endowment supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit arts.gov to learn more.

Jason Rapp

Ranky Tanky gets Grammy Award nomination

#SCartists' album up for major award

This has been making the rounds since the announcement on Wednesday, but The Hub would be remiss not to mention the major news for South Carolina's own Ranky Tanky. The folk band's latest album Good Time was nominated for a Grammy Award in the "best regional roots music album" category. According to a release from the College of Charleston, which boast three of the band's five members as alumni, the band's second album debuted in July 2019 at No. 2 on Billboard’s Jazz Chart. The band’s self-titled initial release, which came out in 2017, hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Jazz and Contemporary Jazz charts in January 2018.

Started by alumnus Clay Ross ’98, Ranky Tanky, which is a Gullah term loosely translated as “work it” or “get funky,” takes a modern approach to the traditional sounds of Gullah music. Rooted in the cultural traditions passed down from West African slaves in the sea islands of South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina, Gullah culture encompasses a rich African-American heritage expressed through arts, crafts, cuisine and the creole influenced language of Gullah.

Ranky Tanky features a quintet of musicians including Ross on vocals and guitar, Quentin Baxter ’98 on drums, Kevin Hamilton ’95 on bass, Charlton Singleton on trumpet and vocals, and Quiana Parler on vocals. Ross, Baxter and Hamilton all majored in music at the College. Baxter also previously worked as adjunct faculty at CofC, teaching jazz percussion.

Congratulations to Ranky Tanky on this accomplishment.

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