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Celebrate 50 years of the Governor’s Awards for the Arts tonight

SCETV special starts at 8 p.m.


Tonight, South Carolina ETV will premiere the stories of nine high-profile past recipients of the Governor's Awards for the Arts at 8 p.m. on South Carolina ETV and streaming.

The South Carolina Arts Commission, the sole presenter of the Governor’s Awards for the Arts, initiated a film project telling the story of the awards for their 50th anniversary. Host Jackie Adams (right) will lead viewers through the result: nine vignettes that look at South Carolina arts, culture, and history through the eyes of living, high-profile South Carolina artists who have received the award through the past 50 years:
  • John Acorn
  • Wilfred Delphin
  • Mary Jackson
  • Glenis Redmond
  • Tom Stanley
  • William Starrett
  • Leo Twiggs
  • Sam Wang
  • Cecil Williams
Read the SCAC news release on The Hub here. Adams, a freelance on-camera talent based in Columbia with an extensive arts background, will introduce the films that profile each artist. The filmmakers behind them, Renderhouse Films of Columbia, spent several months documenting the artists. They turned nine stories that cross diverse lines— racial, ethnic, gender, and artistic disciplines—into individual works of art themselves, notable for their high production quality.

How to watch

South Carolina ETV, the state’s public educational broadcasting network, will broadcast through its 11-station TV network that spans the state. Viewers can access the broadcast via: Further information about accessing SCETV is available here. Can't make it or forget to DVR? Subsequent re-airings of the production will occur on other SCETV channels, including Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. on the South Carolina Channel and Jan. 23 at 2 p.m. on ETV World.

Jason Rapp

SCAC to celebrate 50 years of Governor’s Awards for the Arts

SCETV to premiere retrospective special on Jan. 5


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A retrospective broadcast commemorating 50 years of the South Carolina Governor’s Awards for the Arts with the stories of nine high-profile past recipients is to premiere Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023 at 8 p.m. on South Carolina ETV.

The South Carolina Arts Commission, the sole presenter of the Governor’s Awards for the Arts, initiated a film project telling the story of the awards for their 50th anniversary. The result was nine vignettes that look at South Carolina arts, culture, and history through the eyes of living, high-profile South Carolina artists who have received the award through the past 50 years:
  • John Acorn
  • Wilfred Delphin
  • Mary Jackson
  • Glenis Redmond
  • Tom Stanley
  • William Starrett
  • Leo Twiggs
  • Sam Wang
  • Cecil Williams
“The South Carolina Arts Commission is extremely proud of its role in recognizing our state’s most accomplished artists and advocates with the Governor’s Awards for the Arts each year. If the pandemic had one silver lining, it forced us to switch from an in-person format to a streaming presentation that allowed our work to continue while being accessible,” SCAC Executive Director David T. Platts said. “In 2022, our homegrown streaming presentation became a broadcast on South Carolina ETV. It has been a pleasure to partner again with them to commemorate this anniversary. Renderhouse Films did a phenomenal job telling these artists’ compelling stories, and it all came together in a special way.” A woman with long gray hair smiling and wearing a black top.Jackie Adams (right), a freelance on-camera talent based in Columbia with an extensive arts background, will be host of the hour-long broadcast. She will introduce the films that profile each artist. The filmmakers behind them, Renderhouse Films of Columbia, spent several months documenting the artists. They turned nine stories that cross diverse lines— racial, ethnic, gender, and artistic disciplines—into individual works of art themselves, notable for their high production quality. Adams’ 25 years of experience include positions in non-profit arts administration and leadership, arts education, community arts, and curatorial and studio practice with Columbia College, the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, Richland County School District One, Lewis and Clark, and many statewide, regional, national artists. South Carolina ETV, the state’s public educational broadcasting network, will broadcast the retrospective premiere through its 11-station TV network that spans the state. Viewers can access the broadcast via livestream on the homepage of SCETV.org; by using a digital antenna; or through cable, satellite, and streaming live TV providers. Further information about accessing SCETV is available here. Subsequent re-airings of the production will occur on other SCETV channels, including Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. on the South Carolina Channel and Jan. 23 at 2 p.m. on ETV World.

About the South Carolina Arts Commission

The mission of the South Carolina Arts Commission is to promote equitable access to the arts and support the cultivation of creativity in South Carolina. We envision a South Carolina where the arts are valued and all people benefit from a variety of creative experiences. A state agency created by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1967, the SCAC works to increase public participation in the arts by providing grants, direct programs, staff assistance and partnerships in artist development, arts industry, arts learning, creative placemaking, and folklife and traditional arts. Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., the SCAC is funded by the state of South Carolina, by the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts, and other sources. Visit SouthCarolinaArts.com or call 803.734.8696, and follow @scartscomm on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for #Arts4SC and #SCartists content.
South Carolina Arts Commission News Release, Media Contact: Jason L. Rapp, Communications Director. jrapp@arts.sc.gov or 803.734.8899

Jason Rapp

Hub E-vents: May 7

You want art. You crave art.

#SCartists and arts organizations want to fill that void. They live for that. It’s a calling. Yet in times of social distancing, that’s hard to do. Through the wonders of modern technology, many are trying and succeeding. So while we’re all staying home to protect vulnerable family, friends, and neighbors,  The Hub is stepping up to fill the void between artists and arts lovers. (Learn more about Hub E-vents here.)

Here are some virtual arts events

Sometimes we do events on the same day, sometimes we promo upcoming ones. Sometimes we do both. There are no rules in quarantine life! (Help yourself by reading all of them.)

Today

Charleston Jazz presents "Blue Note Records" with T.S. Monk

On September 16, 2017 Charleston Jazz Orchestra welcomed jazz drumming legend T.S. Monk, son of jazz pioneer Thelonious Monk, to the Charleston Music Hall stage to perform favorites from Blue Note’s legendary catalog and relive the jazz milestones that influenced so many. They invite you to join them tonight at 7 p.m. on either Facebook or YouTube for the next installment in the "From the Archives Series."

Upcoming

Your event not here? Here's a little more on how Hub E-vents works.

Jason Rapp

Hub E-vents: El Cinco de Mayo

You want art. You crave art.

#SCartists and arts organizations want to fill that void. They live for that. It’s a calling. Yet in times of social distancing, that’s hard to do. Through the wonders of modern technology, many are trying and succeeding. So while we’re all staying home to protect vulnerable family, friends, and neighbors,  The Hub is stepping up to fill the void between artists and arts lovers. (Learn more about Hub E-vents here.)

Here are some virtual arts events

Sometimes we do events on the same day, sometimes we promo upcoming ones. Sometimes we do both. There are no rules in quarantine life! (Help yourself by reading all of them.)

Today

It's Creative Tuesdays with Liz... You'll need a piece of paper (any color), scissors, glue, old magazines or newspapers, and markers, crayons or colored pencils. Watch here at 11 a.m.: https://youtu.be/yCGcUaoivMo (Videos from past projects are available there for you to check out anytime.) Next week Liz is making '3D Frog on a Lily Pad.' You'll need paper, green construction paper, markers, crayons, or colored pencils, scissors and glue.

Upcoming

 
  Your event not here? Here's a little more on how Hub E-vents works.

Jason Rapp

Collaborative Brooks Center exhibition a good fit for artist and audience

From the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts, Clemson University Story by Thomas Hudgins (Note: Four of John Acorn's works are in the State Art Collection, including V.W. Resurrected.)

PENDLETON — John Acorn stands on the ground floor of his art studio in Pendleton, mid-afternoon sunlight slanting through windows to reveal dozens of abstract projects in progress: giant foil-wrapped sculptures of a hand and a fish, a ring of sliced bread made of wood. He prepares to give a tour of his studio, the modified two-story garage beside his home filled with work from his career as a professional artist and longtime chair of Clemson University’s art department. He dips into that archive for his latest exhibition, “Trailer Nails and Fish Heads,” on display at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts through May 1. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"]Sand Dollar - Head On and Side View Left: Portrait of a broken sand dollar created from trailer nails in plywood. Right: Detail of trailer nails in plywood.[/caption] Denise Woodward-Detrich stands alongside Acorn as he pulls out a handful of the trailer nails that make up the exhibit. Director of Clemson University’s Lee Gallery, Woodward-Detrich was responsible for identifying Acorn’s work as a good fit for an exhibition at the Brooks Center. “I was familiar with several bodies of work John has created,” she says, “and I felt his trailer nail pieces had not been that widely showcased in the area. The Brooks Center was a great opportunity for both the artist and patrons.” Each piece in the exhibition is aquatically themed: plywood decked with trailer nails forms portraits of sand dollars, feathers and fossils; metal fish head sculptures lurk on makeshift surfaces. The trailer nails were specially ordered in bulk by Acorn years ago, and the fish heads were created at a fabrication plant and based on his own wooden sculptures. Woodward-Detrich admires the elegant simplicity of the exhibit, but notes that it “also gives the viewer a lot to consider in regards to our relationship to nature.” This is the third exhibition organized by Woodward-Detrich and Susan Kaplar, Brooks Center business manager and current art major. Kaplar fell in love with Acorn’s work immediately during a tour of his studio. “I love the ocean, shells and sea creatures and the serenity I feel when I’m there,” she says. She had also seen similar trailer nail artwork by Acorn at the Anderson Arts Center and took it as a sign. The themes of his work, “a new life for something at the end of its life cycle,” also resonated with her. “He saw art emerge from discarded, broken things,” Kaplar says. “That’s powerful. I hope viewers will realize that no matter where they are in their life, they can give themselves another chance to be something useful and beautiful.” [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"]Fish Head 1 Metal fish head cast from Acorn’s original sculpture[/caption] Both agree that the Brooks Center offers a huge opportunity for collaboration between the departments of art and performing arts. “The Brooks Center provides another venue for visual arts outside the ‘whitebox’ of the Lee Gallery,” Woodward-Detrich says. “It’s an ideal partnership. Our Brooks Center exhibitions have an extended showing so patrons are able to appreciate them many times during the year.” Kaplar says, “It bridges all areas of arts on campus by offering opportunities for interdisciplinary exercises and outreach.” A self-proclaimed “art educator,” the Brooks Center showing offers Acorn what he constantly seeks: new audiences. His work is familiar to most, even those who have never heard his name. Acorn is responsible for hundreds of sculptures and large-scale installations that populate business and municipal buildings across the Upstate, including the Hampton III Gallery in Taylors and the Fine Arts Center of Greenville. His work has been showcased in venues as prosaic as small-town hardware stores and as prestigious as big-city museums. He also has a story for every piece and venue. When asked where he finds inspiration, Acorn reveals he refrains from that term. “I talk more about ‘source’ of the artwork,” he says. “I’ve always told students: if you sit around waiting to be inspired to make artwork, you’re going to do a lot of sitting around. The way you make artwork is you start making it!” Acorn’s sources are various. He does not seek them out, nor does he care where he finds them. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"]Fish Head 2 Fish Head 2[/caption] “It’s whatever I’m bouncing off of, whatever I’m reading, seeing,” he says. Sometimes the spark is an article in LIFE magazine; other times, newspapers and television. One of his most prominent motifs is the “Camouflage Man,” which was spurred by an advertisement in the Anderson Independent Mail for a camouflage hunting suit. He shows dozens of larger-than-life Camouflage Man sculptures, lined up like an army in formation. Nearby is one of his fish head sculptures. Acorn says the pieces in this series were inspired by Pablo Picasso’s famous painting, “Guernica.” Spanning the entire the left side of the room is an enormous charm bracelet, which he created after giving his granddaughter a (normal-sized) charm bracelet as a gift. His sources truly have no limits. If Acorn’s studio resembles a workshop, it is not by happenstance. His introduction to art came during his formative years in New Jersey, when he was in fifth-grade shop class. He says he essentially uses the same technology in creating his artwork now as he did in elementary school. The creative spirit of that class, in which he used a variety of hardware store materials for his creations, lit a fire for the rest of his academic career. Acorn’s guidance counselor balked when he told him he wanted to pursue art in college. “He did his best to convince me not to be an artist,” Acorn recalls. “He got out all his books about how much money I would make.” The counselor’s plea failed. Acorn matriculated to Montclair State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in fine arts before receiving a Master of Fine Arts at Cranbrook Academy of Art near Detroit. During his final year of graduate school, he presented an exhibition as part of his coursework. At the same time, architect and Clemson University Dean of Architecture Harlan E. McClure was in town for a conference and happened upon it. He liked Acorn’s work and phoned him to schedule a job interview. Dressed in sweatshirt and blue jeans while loading his belongings into his 1955 station wagon, Acorn told McClure, “If you take me just like I am, I’d be pleased to talk with you.” That suited McClure fine. After their meeting, Acorn was beyond impressed. He had already been offered a job at Buffalo State University, but chose Clemson instead. During the winter, he jokes, he is reminded of the rightness of his decision. Acorn would join the faculty in 1961 and become chair of the department of art in 1976, a position he would hold until retirement in 1997. In 1998, he was given the prestigious Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award, which is bestowed by the South Carolina Arts Commission as “the highest honor the state gives in the arts.” He also received Clemson University’s Distinguished Emeriti Award in 2010. As the sun begins to dip behind the trees, Acorn goes to his car and retrieves another fish head. This one, he says, was created by a talented young fabricator based on Acorn’s design, and he has decided to submit it for an exhibition as a jointly created work. Retired for almost two decades, Acorn shows no sign of stopping. As “Trailer Nails and Fish Heads” proves, he is always striving for new ways to bring art to the people. “Trailer Nails and Fish Heads” is free and open to the public in the lobby of the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts from 1 to 5 p.m. on weekdays and before evening performances. Image above:  Artist John Acorn in his studio.

Artist John Acorn’s new sculpture debuts in Greenville

From the Greenville News: "John Acorn’s Orbital Trio, commissioned by hotel owner D.J. Rama, made its debut in NOMA Square in front of the downtown Hyatt Regency. 'Orbital Trio is a phenomenal addition to the great array of public art in the downtown area,' said Alan Ethridge, executive director of the Metropolitan Arts Council. Acorn’s abstract sculpture consists of a network of interlocking aluminum spheres. Acorn, an acclaimed artist who taught in the Clemson University art department for 36 years before retiring in 1997, was on hand as the sculpture was uncovered. 'This project has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had,' Acorn said." Read the complete article. Via: The Greenville News and Hampton III Gallery Photo courtesy of NOMA Square [caption id="attachment_4367" align="alignnone" width="484"]John Acorn, Orbital Trio Artist John Acorn with his work, Orbital Trio[/caption] Acorn's work, V.W. Resurrected, is in the State Art Collection.