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Art of Community: Rural SC recognized with Power of Rural award

The South Carolina Arts Commission's initiative, The Art of Community: Rural S.C., received the first Power of Rural award October 11 from the South Carolina Office of Rural Health at the 21st annual Rural Health Conference, which was attended by health and medical professionals dedicated to providing access to quality healthcare in rural communities. Program Director Susan DuPlessis also led a conversation of Art of Community team members around using the arts as a different approach to building healthy communities. The Art of Community: Rural S.C. advances the Arts Commission’s commitment to rural development through the arts, culture and creative placemaking and is supported by funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. The initiative has led to national attention and new connections for the Arts Commission — from the White House to national thought leaders to significant organizations inside and outside of the state. In addition, the agency has been invited to take part in regional and national conferences and webinars to present the program as a model for building community, economic opportunity and local infrastructure for growth and development in rural and high-poverty communities. “Through this initiative, we have created a new framework for building local connections, community engagement and capacity,” DuPlessis said. “It was born out of our participation in the Promise Zone’s strategic planning process in the fall of 2015. In all of the sessions, I heard how arts and culture were important, whether we were talking about healthcare or workforce development. The arts were clearly identified as key to community pride, attachment and new possibilities.” Over the past year, The Art of Community: Rural SC resulted in six creative peacemaking projects being designed and implemented by local teams in the six counties in South Carolina’s federally designated Promise Zone . The Arts Commission provided small grants to assist with these projects. Six mavens are working closely with the Arts Commission to drive and sustain the work of each local team. Mavens and the communities they represent are Lottie Lewis, Allendale; Dr. Yvette McDaniel, Denmark (Bamberg County); Evelyn Coker, Blackville (Barnwell County); Gary Brightwell, Walterboro (Colleton County); Audrey Hopkins-Williams, Estill (Hampton County); and Johnny Davis, Jasper County Twenty-three national and state leaders representing expansive thinking in the world of arts, culture and community development serve on the Art of Community Advisory Council, which is co-chaired by two native South Carolinians, Union native Dr. Ann Carmichael, dean of USC Salkehatchie, and Bob Reeder, program director for Rural LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) and a Rock Hill native. For more information about The Art of Community, contact Susan DuPlessis, 803.734.8693. Image: First row, left to right: team member LaShandra Morgan, maven Dr. Yvette McDaniel, Susan DuPlessis, maven Evelyn Coker. Back row, left to right: team members Ashley Jordan and Myron Brooker, Dr. Graham Adams, executive director, S.C. Office of Rural Health, and team member Brenda Hughes. Missing from photo: mavens Gary Brightwell, Johnny Davis, Audrey Hopkins-Williams, and Lottie Lewis.  

Creative Pillars forum coming to Hartsville

“What are some of the pillars needed in a community for a creative professional to have a high quality of life?” That’s the question the South Carolina Arts Alliance is asking at a Creative Pillars forum in Hartsville August 8. The free forum takes place at Black Creek Arts Council from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Beer and wine will be available for purchase. Advance registration is requested and is available on the Arts Alliance’s website, www.scartsalliance.net. The forums, which are open to any creative professional or those with an interest in a creative field, will include group activities meant to identify key amenities that help attract and retain creative professionals and targeted discussions to dive deeper into specific topics. The Arts Alliance is interested in hearing from every kind of creative professional, from the freelance graphic designer to the touring musician to the nonprofit fundraising professional. “We wanted to create a way to gather insight into areas other than pure arts and culture and how they play a role in the quality of life for a creative professional,” said GP McLeer, SCAA’s executive director. “We know that a high value on arts and culture is important, but what about access to healthcare, public safety, recreation, or even trash pick up – where do these kinds of issues lie in the hierarchy for the creative professional? Whether you’re an architect, designer, actor, musician, nonprofit arts manager, or even a board member, this is an important discussion to have as people look for ways to effectively make a difference in their community.” Creative Pillars is also serving as a pilot for a new statewide leadership development program, CreativeSC, being planned by the South Carolina Arts Alliance in partnership with the South Carolina Arts Commission, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the University of South Carolina, and Together SC, with additional partners expected to join in the coming months. The comprehensive program will include networking, workshops/forums, and a selective leadership program. The Arts Alliance is targeting an early fall 2017 launch of CreativeSC. The series is supported by a grant by the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. About the South Carolina Arts Alliance The South Carolina Arts Alliance is the only statewide nonprofit dedicated to advancing the arts for all South Carolinians through advocacy, leadership development, and public awareness. The SCAA is housed at the Younts Center for Performing Arts in Fountain Inn, SC.

Appalachian gateway communities workshop to offer cultural heritage tourism assistance

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Conservation Fund, are offering a technical assistance workshop in Ringgold, Ga., May 9–11 on creating sustainable natural and cultural heritage tourism development in Appalachian "gateway" communities—those that are entry points to Appalachia's national and state parks and forests. Teams will learn how to jump start economic growth in their communities through public arts promotion, cultural heritage and natural resource tourism, and preservation and stewardship of community character. Applicants or their gateway communities must be located in an Appalachian county designated by ARC as economically distressed, transitional, or at-risk. Eligible South Carolina counties are Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg. (Maps and lists of Appalachian counties' economic status for FY 2017 are available on the ARC website.) Participating communities must send a team of four to seven key members, including at least one member from the arts. Experts will assist each team in developing an action plan for capitalizing on their community's unique natural and cultural heritage resources and the arts. Participating teams will also be eligible to apply for seed grant funding to help them implement the action plan they develop at the workshop. The workshop registration fee is $550 per team; limited travel assistance may be available on a case-by-case basis. Applications are due March 24. More information and registration details are available online.

Free creative placemaking guide available from National Endowment for the Arts

NEA Creative PlacemakingThe National Endowment for the Arts has published How to Do Creative Placemaking: An Action-Oriented Guide to Arts in Community Development. The book features 28 essays from thought leaders active in arts-based community development, as well as 13 case studies of projects funded through the NEA’s creative placemaking program, Our Town. How to Do Creative Placemaking is intended as a primer for those interested in bringing the arts to the community development table as a tool—along with housing, transportation, public health and other sectors—to advance revitalization efforts in an authentic way. The book is available for free (as a hard copy or PDF download.) “The book is meant to help people start working with the arts to make their place better,” says NEA Director of Design and Creative Placemaking Jason Schupbach, “We wanted to create something easy to use and full of options for communities to begin doing this work, or to improve what they have already started.” The book is divided into six chapters, “Inclusive Planning + Equitable Development,” “Economic Opportunity,” “Community Identity + Belonging,” “Arts + Government,” “Arts + Physical Infrastructure,” and “Arts + Community Development Organizations.” A sample of the essays: • “Five Lessons Learned for a Successful Public Art Project,” by Americans for the Arts’ Patricia Walsh • “Can Arts Drive Rural Economic Development?” by USDA Rural Development’s Chris Beck and the International Sonoran Desert Alliance’s Tracy Taft • “Ethics of Development: A Shared Sense of Place,” by the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture’s María Lopez de León • “How Can a Planning Authority Work with an Artist to Improve Public Health Outcomes for Residents?” by the City of Fargo, North Dakota’s Nichole Crutchfield Since 2011, the NEA has awarded more than $30 million to support 389 Our Town projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Via: National Endowment for the Arts

Spartanburg ready to officially launch cultural district

Spartanburg Cultural DistrictThe official launch of the Spartanburg Downtown Cultural District takes place Nov. 17 with an opening ceremony at 4:30 p.m. at Morgan Square. The event will run through 8 p.m. with open galleries, live music, and public art installations in other parts of the district. A cultural district is a specific geographical area in a city or town that has a concentration of cultural facilities, activities and assets. Legislation ratified by the South Carolina General Assembly and signed by Governor Nikki Haley authorizes the South Carolina Arts Commission to grant official state designation to cultural districts in the Palmetto State. With the help of the Chapman Cultural Center’s Culture Counts initiative, which began in 2013, the Spartanburg Downtown Cultural District was approved by the City of Spartanburg and designated by the S.C. Arts Commission in 2015. “It is wonderful to receive state and national recognition of the sheer quantity and diverse cultural assets that exist in our city," said Jennifer Evins, president and CEO of Chapman Cultural Center. "The launch of the Spartanburg Downtown Cultural District allows us to wrap a ribbon around those assets and activities and make them even more accessible, not only to our local residents, but also to visitors coming to Spartanburg. This designation allows us to distinguish Spartanburg as a culturally diverse and vibrant downtown.” The Chapman Cultural Center was awarded three grants to fund the Spartanburg Downtown Cultural District launch by the S.C. Arts Commission, City of Spartanburg and the Hughes Investment Elevate Upstate Community Vibrancy Grant provided by Ten at the Top. Fiber artist and graphic designer Ashleigh Shuler received a grant to create and install several temporary textile-based artworks that will serve as visual identifiers, setting the Cultural District apart from the larger downtown business district. The temporary public art project is a partnership between Chapman Cultural Center, The Spartanburg Art Museum, City of Spartanburg and the Spartanburg Downtown Cultural District Steering Committee. Spartanburg Art Museum’s executive director, Elizabeth Goddard, curated the temporary public art installation along with the support of Melissa Earley and Alissa Heckle of the Chapman Cultural Center. For more information, visit the Chapman Cultural Center's website.

Free webinar for rural community leaders: Thinking Beyond the Town Line

Rural community leaders are invited to participate in a free webinar to learn how small towns are working together to support each other. Offered by the Orton Family Foundation and the Citizens' Institute on Rural Design, Thinking Beyond the Town Line: Strengthening Rural Development through Cooperation will examine how pooling resources and cooperating across town boundaries can result in new efficiencies and improve quality of life. Susan DuPlessis, program director with the South Carolina Arts Commission, will share highlights from the agency's pilot project, The Art of Community: Rural SC. The webinar takes place November 17 from 3 - 4 p.m. EST. The webinar is free, but online registration is required. Webinar presenters:

  • Brett Schwartz, program manager, National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation. NADO offers a myriad of programs aimed at cross-border cooperation including training, research, and peer networking services in the areas of economic and disaster resilience, transportation, and sustainable community development.
  • Sarah Lucas, AICP, regional planning department manager, Networks Northwest. Lucas works closely with local governments, nonprofits, and other community stakeholders in northwest Michigan on a variety of community issues, including housing and economic development. She also coordinates and facilitates public outreach strategies and conducts in-depth community research and analysis.
  • Lori Meadows, executive director, Kentucky Arts Council. Meadows has headed up the Kentucky Arts Council since 2005. Her work has included convening a 54-county Appalachian region to initiate economic growth and development through arts-related tools, resources and ideas.
  • Susan DuPlessis, program director, South Carolina Arts Commission. DuPlessis has a wide range of experience in creative, place-based work including co-directing several significant agency partnerships including the four-state Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, South Carolina's Rural Promise Zone and the Riley Institute at Furman University. Susan will share highlights from a pilot project, The Art of Community: Rural SC, which is part of the South Carolina Promise Zone initiative.
About the Citizens' Institute on Rural Design The Citizens' Institute on Rural Design™ (CIRD) provides communities access to the resources they need to convert their own good ideas into reality. CIRD works with communities with populations of 50,000 or less, and offers annual competitive funding to as many as six small towns or rural communities to host a two-and-a-half day community design workshop. With support from a wide range of design, planning and creative placemaking professionals, the workshops bring together local leaders from non-profits, community organizations, and government to develop actionable solutions to the community's pressing design challenges. The community receives additional support through webinars, conference calls, and web-based resources. About the Orton Family Foundation With an entrepreneurial spirit and funding derived from the profits of The Vermont Country Store, Lyman Orton and Noel Fritzinger established the Orton Family Foundation in 1995 as a resource for small cities and towns grappling with change and searching for solutions. An active resident of Weston, Vermont and a proud seventh generation Vermonter, Lyman saw that many communities around the state were unprepared for growth and lacking the information and tools needed to steer the change toward a vibrant, sustainable future. The Foundation began by developing a GIS-based 3D visualization and decision-support tool, CommunityViz®, which has helped hundreds of communities across the US imagine new possibilities for growth and change. The Foundation now emphasizes the Community Heart & Soul™ process,  a planning methodology that uses broad citizen engagement to build economically resilient and socially vibrant communities based on towns’ unique local character.

Light and digital media artist ready to unveil public art installations in Spartanburg

The public is invited to Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light art installations taking place Oct. 4 beginning at 4:30 p.m. Full schedule listed below. SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Award-winning light and digital media artist Erwin Redl will unveil nine public art installations in Spartanburg, S.C. on Tuesday, Oct. 4 as a part of Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge. For more than a year, Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light has been building relationships between police officers and communities through a collaborative art-making process. The installations will be illuminated in conjunction with National Night Out events across 10 city neighborhoods, starting with a celebration at 4:30 p.m. at Mobile Suspension downtown in Denny’s Plaza, 203 E. Main St. Composed of five curtains of semi-transparent acrylic panes – nearly 7,000 in total – Mobile Suspension (pictured above) is the result of Redl’s creative design and the collective efforts of residents and police officers who volunteered to assemble the large-scale installation. During the day, sunlight will shine through the mobile, casting colors onto the ground like stained glass. At night, LED lights provided by Hubbell Lighting Inc. in Greenville, S.C. will illuminate the mobile from below. The Oct. 4 event will feature music, food and comments from Spartanburg Mayor Junie White; Jennifer Evins, CEO of the Chapman Cultural Center; Spartanburg Police Chief Alonzo Thompson and neighborhood residents, who will talk about the year-long effort to revitalize the city through art. The illumination of each installation will coincide with a neighborhood celebration at the site, ending with a grand finale at 8:30 p.m. at Glow at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, 350 Howard St., Spartanburg, S.C. See below for a schedule of the Oct. 4 celebration. “By bringing site-specific art into Spartanburg neighborhoods where residents may feel isolated from traditional cultural assets, this project is already fostering greater understanding of both the artistic process and the transformative impact of public art,” said Jennifer Evins, president and CEO of the Chapman Cultural Center. “We are eliminating barriers as residents become part of the artistic process and help translate ideas into works of art.” In 2015, the City of Spartanburg was selected as one of four communities to participate in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge, a new program to support temporary public art projects that celebrate creativity, enhance urban identity, encourage public-private partnerships, and drive economic development. The temporary art project, funded by $1 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies, with supplemental funding provided by regional institutions, corporations, foundations and private donors, is a partnership among Redl, the Chapman Cultural Center, the City of Spartanburg and civic leadership. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFJP1yJsiAg Redl, whose art installations have illuminated spaces worldwide, has been working with neighborhood residents and community leaders for more than a year to bring the project to life. The artist said each installation is tailored to its environment and that the scale, medium and design vary significantly, ranging from workshop-based video and smaller light installations to large-scale illuminations of two smokestacks. “Different structures lead to different aesthetic explorations and community engagement possibilities,” Redl said. “Alternative structures lead to alternative results. Change is inevitable, and, through this process, we begin to see Spartanburg in a new light.” Mayor White said the efforts of Redl and all of those across the community to bring Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light to life are already bearing fruit. "The night of Oct. 4 is going to be a great night in the history of our community,” said Spartanburg Mayor Junie White. “Something special is happening in Spartanburg right now. Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light is symbolic of what is happening here, and I can't wait to see the lights come on for everyone." Oct. 4 schedule of installations: Mobile Suspension, Downtown Spartanburg

  • Denny’s Plaza, 203 E. Main St.
  • Lights On – 4:30-6 p.m. Oct. 4
Five multicolored mobile curtains float above the center lawn of Denny’s Plaza, located in the heart of Spartanburg’s Downtown Cultural District. Each curtain is 51 feet long and 12 feet high and consists of a woven pattern of translucent acrylic 4-inch by 4-inch squares. The installation was designed to create a dazzling visual experience that changes depending on the time of day, the viewer’s position, and weather conditions. The five shimmering curtains are made of multicolored acrylic squares installed in specific patterns designed by the artist. Community volunteers assembled the curtains over a one-month period using specially designed clips. The rectangular shape of the site gave Redl an opportunity to play with subtle variations within a grid. The artist is interested in creating unique visceral sensations for viewers, and Mobile Suspension offers a kaleidoscopic experience that is fresh with each new encounter. River Poetry, Andrews Farm and Converse Heights
  • Cottonwood Trail, 1038 Woodburn Road
  • Lights On – 5:45 p.m.
Here, artist Erwin Redl provides an opportunity for visitors to contemplate the role of technology in our lives within a nature preserve. Located between Converse Heights and Andrews Farm neighborhoods, the Cottonwood Trail is a 116-acre urban greenspace with 4 1/2 miles of trails, and is owned and maintained by the Spartanburg Area Conservancy, a membership-based nonprofit organization. By juxtaposing LED displays similar to those used by restaurants and gas stations against the solitude of a meandering creek, the artist creates a tangible demonstration that nature and digital technology can coexist. The project presents local poetry displayed on 12 double-sided LED signs suspended above the Cottonwood Trail. Visitors can read the lines of poetry overhead as they walk along Lawson’s Fork Creek. The layered poetry dimension allows for the community to provide their thoughts, observations, and feelings about nature within this dynamic human/nature system created by the artist. The Hub City Writers Project will curate an ongoing series of poems for River Poetry through March 2017. Under One Roof, South Converse
  • Picnic Shelter, 440 S. Converse St.
  • Lights On – 6:10 p.m.
This park has special meaning to South Converse residents as a sign of local pride and a link to the past. The local neighborhood association fought hard to get this park funded and completed. Touched by the story of the park’s origin, and inspired by the evident pride in the place, Redl decided to use this picnic shelter to demonstrate the transformative power of turning something ordinary into something extraordinary. Residents have attended workshops to learn how to install and program the LED lighting for the shelter. Redl hopes local residents will want to create special light programs for dances, poetry slams, cookouts, or other events in and around the shelter. By using a simple picnic shelter as the basic structure within which many things can happen, and by involving the local community, Redl has tangibly illustrated that we are all indeed together under one roof. Islands of Light, Maxwell Hills
  • Duncan Park Lake, 293 West Park Drive
  • Lights On – 6:30 p.m.
Redl explores the fertile intersection of art, nature and technology with this installation of eight floating islands recalling the image of cattails or reeds swaying with the breeze in an aquatic environment. The scale of the site was particularly interesting to the artist, as it allowed for interactions among water, wind, and sky in addition to light and reflection. The logistical challenges of the project were first taken on by students from Daniel Morgan Technology Center. After meeting with the artist and an engineer, these young technicians created a working prototype, which became the blueprint for the finished islands. A local dock builder was engaged to install these light-topped atolls. The local waterfowl have officially adopted these islands of light. Benchmark Spartanburg, Forest Park
  • CC Woodson Recreation Center, 210 Bomar Avenue
  • Lights On – 6:55 p.m.
Benches are for sitting, yes, but they can also be a site for romance, business deals, creative pastimes or great conversations. Redl has created a chromatically pulsating bench that he hopes will invite community gatherings, poetry readings and other events that make use of the mesmerizing patterns and shifting color palette. The multiple RGB LED side-lit acrylic panels that make up the bench create an almost cinematic experience, saturating the surrounding environment with gradually morphing gradations of color. Spartanburg Swing, Hampton Heights
  • National Beta Headquarters, 267 S. Spring St.
  • Lights On – 7:15 p.m.
Twenty-six four-foot-long pendulums are evenly distributed across the glass facade of the National Beta Headquarters building. Their slow one-second pulse animates the surface of the concrete and glass structure. Mixing the simple physics of a pendulum with the off-the-shelf electronics of a small fan and flashlight LED, Spartanburg Swing creates a complex choreography. This kinetic work is controlled by small microprocessors that turn the fans and the lights on and off in intervals programmed by the artist. The pulsing movement is created entirely by intermittent fan bursts and the constant tug of gravity. The site is the international headquarters of National Beta, whose purpose is "to promote the ideals of academic achievement, character, leadership, and service among elementary and secondary school students." Headquartered in Spartanburg, the organization has more than 8,750 clubs nationally and internationally. The Hampton Heights neighborhood, comprised of homes built between the 1880s and the 1920s, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Video Village, Highland Neighborhood
  • Cammie Clagget Apartments, 317 Highland Avenue
  • Lights On – 7:35 p.m.
The artist decided he wanted to turn these empty buildings in the Cammie Clagget apartment complex inside out, transforming the now-vacant units into lanterns that face outward to tell their stories and cast their light into the surrounding community. The artist is interested in reanimating these empty spaces as a way to draw our attention to the question of impermanence and what might be possible for the future. Playing with the dual meaning of the word projection, Redl created a 52-channel video screen and directed White Elephant Enterprises and the Spartanburg Art Museum to curate the content for the installation. The selected videos feature a variety of topics but focus on stories of and about the residents of this historic neighborhood. The curators established a media production studio within the nearby Bethlehem Center to facilitate interviews with residents and to collect vintage home-movie footage and digitize family photographs from the community. The artist hopes to jump-start enthusiasm within the community for making videos of all kinds and sharing them in the public square. Glow, Beaumont Village and Northside
  • Beaumont smokestack, 400 Beaumont Avenue
  • Lights On – 8:05 p.m.
  • Northside smokestack, 350 Howard St.
  • Lights On and grand finale celebration – 8:30 p.m.
Both of the mill properties owned by Spartan Mills today serve new purposes, one as the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and the other as the administrative offices of Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. Originally constructed by master builder Thomas Badgett, these two colossal smokestack structures were built in the late nineteenth century out of locally made brick. Edifices such as these, in the heart of mill villages, have historical relevance and serve as symbols of adaptation and change. Redl has chosen to treat the smokestacks as two synchronized, large-scale canvases for high-powered multicolored lights that bathe the surface of the worn bricks. For the artist, these artworks offer a new way of seeing old structures. About the Artist Born in Austria in 1963, Erwin Redl finished his studies at the Vienna Music Academy with two degrees, a BA in Composition (1990) and BA in Electronic Music (1991). He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for graduate studies in computer art at the School of Visual Arts, in New York City (MFA 1995). Redl investigates the process of “reverse engineering” by (re-)translating the abstract aesthetic language of virtual reality and 3D computer modeling into architectural environments by means of large-scale light installations. For the 2002 Whitney Biennial, the artist covered the Whitney Museum’s facade with three multicolor LED veils. In 2008 he created a sound and light installation in the Austrian Pavilion at the World Expo in Zaragoza, Spain. The Pacific Design Center’s new Red Building by Cesar Pelli features four permanent installations by the artist, completed in 2013. Redl’s largest work to date is a computer-controlled, 580-foot-long-LED-installation at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, completed in 2010. Redl’s work is owned by prestigious national and international institutions, among them the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; the Milwaukee Art Museum; and Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul; as well as by private collectors. For more information, www.paramedia.net. About the Chapman Cultural Center The mission of the Chapman Cultural Center is to provide cultural leadership for Greater Spartanburg by developing, strengthening, and promoting the scope, excellence and educational role of the arts, humanities, and sciences, and to further their significance in the life of our community and all of its citizens. Founded in 1968 with a current budget of $2.1 million, the Chapman Cultural Center is the oldest and largest countywide arts agency in the state of South Carolina and is serving as the lead arts agency and project manager for Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light. About the Public Art Challenge & Bloomberg Philanthropies The City of Spartanburg was selected in 2015 as one of four temporary public art projects from across the United States to receive a grant award from the first-ever Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge. Other winning cities are Gary, IN, Albany/Schenectady/Troy, NY, and Los Angeles, CA. Full information on all projects can be found at publicartchallenge.bloomberg.org. Bloomberg Philanthropies works in more than 120 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s charitable activities, including his foundation and his personal giving. In 2015, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed over half a billion dollars. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter @BloombergDotOrg.

Free workshop in Conway – Connecting Resources for a Connected Community

scacschaclogosThe South Carolina Arts Commission is teaming up with the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission to offer a free workshop in Conway: Connecting Resources for a Connected Community, Friday, October 7, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Conway Library, 801 Main Street. The workshop is open to anyone, but the content will be specific to the Conway area.

Join us to learn about resources offered by these state agencies and the kinds of services available to help make your community more livable using the arts, culture, equal opportunity and access. The workshop will also offer a forum to discuss how these resources, which include community relations workshops, anti-discrimination services, grant funding and cultural planning, are open to all community members.

The workshop is free, but you must register online to reserve your seat.

 

SC Community Loan Fund call for art

sccommunityloanfundSouth Carolina Community Loan Fund invites artists of all ages and skill levels to donate original, postcard-sized artwork for the 2016 Thought Leader Speaker Series being held November 15 at the Charleston Music Hall. The event, featuring a conversation with former Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley, will explore the relationship between the arts and community development as an effective strategy for revitalizing and building strong communities. All entries will be exhibited at the reception directly following the Thought Leader Speaker Series and will be available for sale for $125 per piece. Funds raised will support South Carolina Community Loan Fund’s work to transform and revitalize communities throughout the state. All submissions must be 4 x 6 inch, postcard-sized work. Pre-cut mat board will be sent to participating artists the week of October 1. Art should be produced on the provided mat board, with the exception of photography, which may be dry mounted to the board. Each artist is asked to donate two to four limited-edition pieces. Read the complete guidelines and find out how to participate. Via: South Carolina Community Loan Fund

A3C Action – a national competition to use art, music and hip hop to advance change

Hurry! Application deadline is July 24! Center for Civic InnovationA3C Festival & Conference and the Center for Civic Innovation are seeking applications for A3C Action, a national competition for ideas that use art, music, and hip hop culture as a vehicle to advance social justice and civic engagement in underserved communities. This includes ideas like an art-based curriculum for homeless youth in Atlanta and a program in Philadelphia that pairs up law enforcement officials with recently incarcerated youth to make films together.

Applications are now open for ideas, initiatives, and programs across the United States and close on July 24, 2016.

Five finalists will be flown to Atlanta in October 2016 for the A3C Festival and Conference, where they will attend a business development boot camp and pitch their idea to a national audience. The finalists will compete for more than $10,000 in cash and in-kind contributions and have opportunities for networking and partnership development. The application is available online: www.a3caction.org

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