Ce Scott-Fitts promoted to deputy director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The South Carolina Arts Commission is announcing the promotion of Ce Scott-Fitts, previously artist development director, to its executive leadership team as deputy director.
The Detroit native (right) joined the SCAC as artist development director in 2019. Scott-Fitts was previously creative director and on the founding staff of the McColl Center for Art + Innovation in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she curated exhibitions, developed an artist-in-residence program, and established an international residency program for North Carolina artists in South Africa and Ireland.
She has served on numerous grant panels nationwide and taught in higher education. She is currently co-chair of the individual artist support committee for Grantmakers in the Arts and is the founder of South Carolina Artists in Action, which seeks to serve the unique needs of Black South Carolina artists. While adept at serving others, Scott-Fitts is also a practicing artist and has exhibited at museums, public spaces, and galleries throughout the Southeast with works in public and private collections in the U.S., Japan, and the United Kingdom. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in painting from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.
Scott-Fitts will step into the role officially on July 1. She will continue to manage day-to-day artist development initiatives as she has been while adding oversight of select programs of the SCAC.
“I am thrilled to be a deputy director. I look forward to working with the programs teams as they create more opportunities for and support the state’s artists and arts organizations,” Scott-Fitts said.
“Ce has been a valuable member of the Arts Commission team since her first day here. She has put tremendous effort into developing meaningful relationships with South Carolina artists to connect them with agency resources. Among those are the fellowships program she modernized and rejuvenated and our emerging artists program, which offers not just a grant but valuable mentorship. We are excited that the additional agency programs and constituents will now benefit from her expertise,” SCAC Executive Director David Platts said.
About the South Carolina Arts Commission
The mission of the South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) 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 four areas: arts learning, community and traditional arts, artist development, and arts industry. 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.
Emily Allison. Provided photo.[/caption]
Emily Allison, now a sophomore and now at the Fine Arts Center of Greenville, made it two in a row Saturday, earning first prize over seven other finalists in a virtual competition. Allison was champion last year in her first experience in a contest that often favors more experienced students.
The South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) 
The districts recertified are: the Congaree Vista (Columbia), Lancaster, Rock Hill and Spartanburg Downtown, all designated in 2015. Their recertification is effective July 1, 2022 and will be run through FY2027.
SCAC Executive Director David Platts approved recertification at the recommendation of reviewer Jason Rapp, the 
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) is happy to announce four recipients who are to be honored in 2022 with South Carolina’s highest award for exceptional achievement in practicing or supporting the arts.
The SCAC presents the South Carolina Governor’s Awards for the Arts annually each spring. The appointed members of the agency’s board of directors vote on panel recommendations for the award. In 2022, the SCAC board approved the recommendations of the following honorees from their respective categories to be recognized for outstanding achievement and contributions to the arts in South Carolina:
DARION MCCLOUD (Artist Category) is an actor, director, storyteller, educator, arts activist, and children’s literature advocate from Columbia. He is also the founder and creative director both of NiA Theatre Company and Story Squad. McCloud is a Riley Institute Diversity Fellow and the 2019 recipient of the Theatre Artist of the Year Award from The Jasper Project. A formally trained visual artist with a bachelor’s in art studio from the University of South Carolina, he found his way to the stage via telling stories and stayed, acting and teaching there for more than 20 years. He enjoys crafting theatre, storytelling, and art experiences for old and young and the initiated and the un-initiated in environments as varied as classrooms, corporate settings, libraries, campfires and, of course, theatres; he is a company member for Columbia-based Trustus Theatre and the South Carolina Shakespeare Company. McCloud has numerous statewide partnerships to his credit in higher education, the humanities, and the arts. He considers himself as having committed his life to the transforming power of art.
ED MADDEN (Individual Category) is a poet, activist, and a professor of English, with a focus on Irish literature, at the University of South Carolina. There, he is also director of the women’s and gender studies program. His academic areas of specialization include Irish culture; British and Irish poetry; LGBTQ literature, sexuality studies, and history of sexuality; and creative writing and poetry. In 2019 he was named a Poet Laureate Fellow of the Academy of American Poets and a visiting artist fellow at the Instituto Sacatar in Bahia, Brazil. In 2015, Madden was named Columbia’s first poet laureate, a post he maintains today. Madden has been a South Carolina Academy of Authors Fellow in poetry twice and was South Carolina Arts Commission Prose Fellow in 2011. He has been writer-in-residence at the Riverbanks Botanical Garden and at Fort Moultrie in Charleston as part of the state’s African American Heritage Corridor project. He also was 2006 artist-in-residence for South Carolina State Parks. His numerous publishing and editing credits include four of his own: Nest, Ark, Prodigal: Variations, and Signals, and his chapbook So They Can Sing won the 2016 Robin Becker Chapbook Prize. Photo by Forrest Clonts.
CARRIE ANN POWER (Arts in Education Category) has been an arts educator and advocate in South Carolina for more 30 years. Beginning in 2004 she was the fine arts department chair, grant manager, and visual arts teacher at East Aiken School of the Arts (EASOA) until 2015. During that time, she transformed EASOA by adding full-time dance and theatre programs, developed and implemented all aspects of the EASOA after-school arts program, and secured donations to fund scholarships providing low-income families access to programs. During that tenure she coordinated the Curriculum Leadership Institute in the Arts, which improves and enhances arts lesson plans based on the 2010 S.C. Visual and Performing Arts Academic Standards. She then served as the education associate for visual and performing arts at the South Carolina Department of Education from 2015 until 2019, where she oversaw the development of K-12 Design Standards for visual and performing arts and later coordinated their revisions. Power served an active role on notable state arts or arts education boards and, in her community, supports educational outreach programs that bring professional artists into schools.
Founded as a non-profit in January 2012, ONE COLUMBIA FOR ARTS AND CULTURE (OC) (Organization Category) served as de facto office of cultural affairs for Columbia until being officially named as such earlier this year. Its mission is to “advise, amplify and advocate for strengthening and unifying the cultural community of Columbia” and does so by promoting cultural activities taking place in the city through various means. In 2014, OC facilitated the formalization of Columbia’s public art program, which has resulted in the creation of more than 60 public artworks and an online directory of public art throughout the city of Columbia. The organization facilitates other projects related to tactical urbanism, creative placemaking and enhancing public space. When Columbia established the honorary position of city poet laureate in 2015, it tasked OC with creating the selection committee that resulted in Dr. Ed Madden being awarded the title. OC is responsible for Amplify, a comprehensive cultural plan approved by city council in 2020. In recent years, it undertook the lengthy process of developing of a modern flag for the city adopted by city council in 2020.
The South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) 
The mission of the South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) 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 four areas: arts learning, community and traditional arts, artist development, and arts industry. 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 
Left to right: Kimberly Washburn Motte, Amanda Noyes, Krista Grendze, and La Ruchala Murphy[/caption]
Arts Learning Director Kimberly Washburn Motte comes from the Florence County Museum, where she has served as curator of education since 2012. An artist herself, Kimberly is also a former visual art teacher, having taught across the K-12 spectrum in Darlington County. She received her bachelor’s in art education from Francis Marion University. Kimberly’s work at the agency will focus on a continuum of learning in and through the arts— from enrichment with very young learners through creative aging experiences.
K-12 Coordinator Amanda Noyes joins after having served as a disability resource coordinator at the University of South Carolina since 2018. She received her bachelor’s in fine art and psychology from Hope College in Holland, Michigan and her master’s in art therapy from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. In addition to her work at UofSC, Amanda has worked as an art therapist, pre-K teaching assistant, and art instructor. Amanda’s work at the agency will focus on learning in and through the arts in K-12.
Assistant Grants Coordinator Krista Grendze is a May 2020 graduate of Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English. She previously worked for Benefitfocus in Charleston as a fulfillment analyst, coordinating customer relations and editing technical documents. She also has experience working with the volunteerism department at Newfields (Indianapolis Museum of Art) and with the Indianapolis Fringe Theatre Festival. Krista will work with the grants team to support our applicants and grantees across the state.
Arts Industry Director La Ruchala Murphy returns to the SCAC having most recently worked as director of leadership and capacity for the United Way of the Midlands in Columbia. She previously served as executive director of the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation in Watkinsville, Georgia. La Ruchala received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and a master’s in arts administration from Winthrop University. She also earned a master’s in nonprofit administration from Louisiana State University.
In addition to financial support, the artists will benefit from mentorship and professional support facilitated by the SCAC and Artist Development Director Ce Scott-Fitts. The combined benefits are intended to deepen artistic practice and foster artistic excellence; encourage career growth, advancement, and sustainability; and provide professional development and opportunities for collaboration.
The SCAC awarded an 
The South Carolina Arts Commission expresses its sadness after learning that Prof. Steven F. Gately passed last week according to reports.
Gately was a long-time tenured faculty member at Francis Marion University. He coordinated its visual arts programs and in 2006 was named an endowed chair as the C.B. and Marlene Askins Professor of Art. His work is included in the permanent collections of notable South Carolina museums, including the Gibbes and Columbia museums of art, and the