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Tuesday was a big day for grant announcements

S.C. arts orgs, one artist benefit from NEA, South Arts funding

Within hours of each other yesterday, the National Endowment for the Arts and regional arts organization South Arts made their first 2023 grant announcements that will find an artist and several arts organizations in South Carolina.

The NEA went first, announcing more than $34 million in funding to support the arts nationwide. This is the first of the NEA’s two major grant announcements each fiscal year and includes grants to organizations through the NEA’s Grants for Arts Projects, Challenge America, and Research Awards categories. This announcement also includes grants to individuals for Literature Fellowships in creative writing (poetry) and translation. Evelyn Berry, a writer from Aiken, was among those latter awards, getting a creative writing fellowship of $25,000. Additional grants awarded in South Carolina include:
  • Coker University in Hartsville (Grants for Arts Projects - Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works; $10,000)
  • Colour of Music, Inc. in Mount Pleasant (Grants for Arts Projects - Music; $10,000)
  • Hub City Writers Project in Spartanburg (Grants for Arts Projects - Literary Arts; $35,000)
  • Puppetry Arts Theatre in Charleston (aka Tuffy Tiger Productions) in Ravenel (Challenge America; $10,000)
  • Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston (Grants for Arts Projects - Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works; $10,000)
  • Trustus, Inc. in Columbia (Grants for Arts Projects - Theatre; $10,000)
  • Warehouse Theatre (aka Greenville Community Warehouse Theatre) in Greenville (Challenge America; $10,000)
“Together, these grants show the NEA’s support nationwide for strengthening our arts and cultural ecosystems, providing equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contributing to the health of our communities and our economy,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “I encourage everyone to explore these projects and the ways they help provide inspiration, understanding, and opportunities for us to live more artful lives.” The full list of recommended grants is available in a state-by-state listing and organized by grant category/discipline. Additional information about the projects can be found using the NEA’s Grant Search.
By afternoon, it was South Arts' turn, making (rightful) hay over 16 new Cross-Sector Impact Grant recipients for 2023. These organizations are each receiving up to $15,000 to support "arts and..." projects developed by partners—one arts organization or artist, and one non-arts organization—harnessing the power of collaboration. Vaughn Newman Dance of Greenville is the lone South Carolina recipient. Cross-Sector Impact Grants are offered each year as part of South Arts' portfolio of programming to support artists, arts organizations, and communities across the south. These projects support collaborative efforts that connect the arts with non-arts aspects of local communities.
Got arts news? Remember to submit it to The Hub! Got arts events? Listings are free on the only statewide arts calendar—Arts Daily!

Jason Rapp

Trustus Theatre seeks a technical director

  • APPLICATION DEADLINE: Until filled
  • COMPENSATION INFORMATION: $38,000-$41,000

Trustus Theatre, known nationally for its commitment to cutting edge, innovative theatre, seeks a qualified full-time technical director. Trustus is seeking a candidate with theatrical experience who is willing to grow with the organization.

Responsibilities

The technical director leads a team of designers, technicians, and craftspeople to bring ideas into reality. The technical director has the daily responsibility for the technical operations of the theatre, including scenic construction, theatrical lighting, theatrical sound, projections, performing facility maintenance, and coordinating contractors for other necessary facility maintenance. The Technical Director works with and oversees the assistant technical director, volunteers, overhire employees, designers, and contractors who perform technical operations and design implementation. The technical director works with a great deal of independence and exercises independent judgment in performing a wide variety of duties.

Qualifications

  • Commitment to the mission and values of Trustus Theatre
  • Associate’s degree required; bachelor’s degree desirable.
  • 3-5 years experience as member of theater technical staff
  • 2+ year experience in management and supervision
  • Significant, demonstrable experience as a technical director in professional, community, or university theatre.
  • Demonstration of effective mentoring and supporting of volunteers.
  • Ability to work collaboratively and cordially with fellow staff, designers, stage managers, and guest artists and directors.
  • Ability to communicate the technical capacities of the theatre and collaborate specifically with designers.
  • Demonstrates extensive theatrical knowledge of design implementation, capacity to work creatively to solve implementation issues across design disciplines.
  • Demonstrates knowledge of theatrical drafting and drafting programs.
  • The ability to successfully guide and support technical staff and technicians in the realization of designers’ expectations and vision.
  • The ability to interpret and execute designs for the Trustus Theatre space.
  • Evidence of sensitivity to and an understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of staff and contractors.
  • Evidence to meet deadlines with quality results.
  • Deonstrates strong project management skills
  • Evidence to monitor expenditures and staying within material budgets.
Classification level: Full-time, with salary and benefits: $38,000-$41,000, salary commensurate with experience Application deadline: November 15 or until position is filled Start date: ASAP Please send a letter of interest and a current resume:
  • Via e-mail to: jessica@trustus.org *OR*
  • Jessica Fichter Trustus Theatre 520 Lady St. Columbia, SC 29201
Trustus Theatre mission: Trustus Theatre is the home for relevant, innovative, and inclusive theatrical works. Trustus Theatre is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Chad Henderson heads to S.C. Philharmonic

Accepts marketing + comms director position

Chad Henderson, most recently the executive director at Trustus Theatre, is joining the South Carolina Philharmonic as its new director of marketing and communications, the orchestra announced today.

According to a news release, "Henderson’s passion for music, experience in promoting events in Columbia, and his desire to work for an established team of professionals makes him a winning fit" for his new position as he leaves one performing arts field for another in the same city. “I am a longtime fan of the South Carolina Philharmonic and its programming, and am thrilled to have the opportunity to join their team,” Henderson (right) said. “The leadership at the South Carolina Philharmonic has an amazing track record and tenure, and the board of directors has been exemplary in it support of the staff and moving the organization forward. I had the pleasure of talking with various members of the Philharmonic’s artistic family over the past few weeks, and I am so delighted to be able to work for this amazing arts organization.” A Spartanburg native, Henderson, came to Columbia in 2003 as a student of the South Carolina Honors College. He started his studies as an aspiring professional percussionist at the school of music but later transitioned his minor in advertising to a major with a new minor in theatre. Henderson served as Trustus' marketing director for eight years starting in 2007, was artistic director for 5 years, and the organization’s executive director throughout the past year—which included the theatre’s closure due to the pandemic and its return to live performance. He resigned from the theatre just more than a week ago on July 29. On Aug. 16 he will bring 14 years of experience promoting nonprofit arts programming in Columbia to the S.C. Philharmonic as it prepares to launch its 2021/2022 concert season with live and virtual performances. “I have known Chad since his early days at Trustus and have always admired his creative drive and commitment to the arts in Columbia. As colleagues we have often turned to each other for guidance, and I am delighted that we can now work together to advance the mission of the South Carolina Philharmonic," Executive Director Rhonda Hunsinger said.

Jason Rapp

Trustus Theatre conducting search for new executive director

Trustus Theatre is searching for a new executive director.

The executive director will serve as the chief operating officer responsible for managing the human and financial resources of Trustus Theatre according to the policies, strategic direction and mission formulated by the board of directors. He or she will provide direct oversight of all financial, operations, resource development and public relations objectives. The executive director will report to the Board of Directors through the Board President and will advise the Board on all matters that may be of benefit in achieving the theatre’s objectives.

The successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to lead and manage the operations of a creative nonprofit organization that seeks to enrich the lives and deepen the experiences of artists and patrons.

The successful candidate will possess the following leadership competencies:
  • Demonstrated successful fundraising expertise. It is critical for the future of Trustus Theatre that funding be secure. The executive director must have the ability to establish and strengthen community relationships, cultivate new sources of revenue, lead fund solicitation to include grant and proposal writing, secure program and season sponsors, and assure donor stewardship. Grant management experience is also necessary.
  • Strong community engagement and collaboration skills. The executive director must be a good listener, strategist and collaborator. He or she will be able to engage with long standing stakeholders and also build relationships with a wider group to build strong connections that are mutually beneficial to Trustus Theatre and the community. Able to build strong community and civic leader relations to leverage good will and financial support. Relates well to people of diverse backgrounds and exhibits genuinely warm and approachable behavior.
  • Strategic thinker with visionary leadership. The executive director will be a strategic thinker, able to engage Trustus Theatre staff and board in a strategic, thoughtful process of growth. The executive director will inspire confidence and provide leadership and vision to ensure a promising future for Trustus Theatre. He or she will demonstrate honesty, sincerity and respect for individuals while modeling organizational values, inspiring trust in and from others.
  • Personnel and financial management. The executive director will be an experienced and effective manager of people. He or she will be able to build an effective staff team working together toward a common vision. The executive director will have the ability to engage, manage, motivate and unite staff around common goals and strategies, and to drive teamwork and results across functions and work groups. He or she will have strong financial acumen and demonstrate fiduciary responsibility, ensuring generally accepted accounting principles are continually adhered to and related to all budget and financial matters.
The successful candidate will have experience working in a leadership management role, with preference given to experience with a theatrical or other creative arts organization. Specific qualifications also include:
  • Proven business acumen, with a track record of effective management and budgeting.
  • Bachelor’s degree in a related and appropriate discipline and a minimum of five years’ experience, with at least three (3) in a leadership role.
  • Must be able to work a flexible schedule.
  • Must be proficient in Microsoft Office, QuickBooks, Google Suite and Slack.
Trustus Theatre is an equal opportunity employer. Interested applicants should submit their resume (cover letter optional) and salary requirements to the Search Committee by emailing trustus@trustus.org.
Trustus Theatre was opened in 1985 by Kay and Jim Thigpen. For 35 years Trustus Theatre has given talented and visionary theatre artists a home where they can be innovative and creative. It has also been home to adventurous theatre-goers who seek out contemporary stories and feel at home as members of a vibrant, cohesive community. Located in the Congaree Vista in Columbia, the theatre boasts two performing venues with the Thigpen Main Stage seating 132, and the Trustus Side Door Theatre seating 50. The underlying principle of Trustus has always been to bring the best of the newest and original plays to an audience craving professional theatre in a setting that is comfortable and unique. Success is measured by a commitment to collaboration and innovation, while impact is measured by the creation of a more diverse and vibrant Columbia.

Jason Rapp

Val Dunn named 2020 winner of the Trustus Playwrights’ Festival

Get a preview with online reading event this month

Trustus Theatre has named Down in the Holler by Val Dunn the winner of the 2020 Trustus Playwrights’ Festival, an annual national new works competition that was founded by the theatre in 1988.

Trustus TheatreThe theatre will present a free, online reading reading of the winning script on its website Saturday, Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. Here is a synopsis:

As the play begins, audiences are transported to a holler in the Shenandoah Valley. Juniper prepares to spend a perfect life in a perfect cabin with her perfect partner, Blake. That is, until Maeve appears in the doorway. Telling tall tales and crooning high lonesomes, Maeve beguiles Juniper's return to Gin—a past self who once lived and loved in this here house. As Juniper attempts to exorcise her pursuit of passion and maintain the stable life she's created with Blake, Down in the Holler witnesses a collision of class and queerness, ultimately asking how we reconcile who we were and who we thought we would become.

Trustus Theatre received more than 800 submissions to the 2020 Trustus Playwrights’ Festival. The Festival Selection Committee, comprised of Trustus company members, selected Dunn’s work. The winning script is traditionally produced as a part of Trustus’ Main Stage subscriber season the year after it is named the winner, however Trustus leadership expects this script to be staged in Summer 2022 because of the pandemic. After the reading event on Sept. 26, the show’s production team, including director Dewey Scott-Wiley, will work with the playwright over the next two years to finalize the script for production.
Val Dunn is a writer/deviser who creates plays, performance art, and rituals. Her work possesses a strong sense of place and tackles issues of feminism and queerness while pushing against the limitations of form. She is a member playwright of Azuka’s New Pages, Writers on the Rocks, and an alumna of the Foundry @ PlayPenn. She has received developmental support from the Orchard Project (Core Company), Signal Fire, Centrum, the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, and SANDBOX. Val holds a bachelor's with honors in drama and English from Washington College where she received the Stewart Award for Drama, The Mary Martin Prize, The Jude & Miriam Pfister Poetry Prize, The William W. Warner Prize for Writing on the Environment, The Literary House Genre Fiction Prize, and was a finalist for the Sophie Kerr prize in Literature. Val has also created zines about depression, the border crisis, and late-stage capitalism.
Directed by Trustus Company Member Dewey Scott-Wiley, Down in the Holler will feature the acting talents of Christine Hellman (Juniper), Susan Swavely (Gin), Katie Leitner (Maeve), and Tashera Pravato (Blake). Virtual scenic and lighting design will be created by Trustus staff members Curtis Smoak and Sam Hetler, editing will be done by staff member Abigail McNeely, and Producing Artistic Director Chad Henderson will be composing the additional media used to provide contextual imagery. This reading event will also feature music by Columbia folk bands The Prairie Willows and Post-Timey String Band. “We’re getting very energized about creating virtual events,” said Producing Artistic Director Chad Henderson. “This reading of Down in the Holler will allow us to share Val’s script with our fans and followers—a show we deeply believe in and look forward to producing. This event also gives us a chance to play and stir our creative impulses. Director Dewey Scott-Wiley has embraced this new format for theatrical experience, and with the addition of virtual backgrounds, sound design, music, and film—I think this reading is going to offer much more than one would expect.”

Jason Rapp

Trustus Theatre names Chad Henderson producing artistic director

Trustus Theatre On Monday, the Trustus Theatre board of directors voted to end the organization’s search for a managing director that began in September 2019 and named Artistic Director Chad Henderson as the producing artistic director. Henderson will now serve the organization in an executive capacity to lead artists, staff, board and the community in realizing the theatre’s mission. He is a native of Spartanburg and began working at Trustus Theatre in 2007 as the marketing director after graduating from the University of South Carolina. After an eight-year career as a professional director, he became Trustus' third artistic director at the start of the theatre’s 31st season in 2015. This is Henderson’s fifth season as the artistic leader of the organization, and the South Carolina Theatre Association recognized him with the 2019 Founders Award last season in recognition for his contributions to South Carolina theatre the previous year. The theatre intends to hire an administrative assistant of production in the coming months to assist in the management of productions, contribution programs, and communications.

Sumner Bender, president of Trustus Theatre’s board, is confident in the board’s decision to make Henderson the producing artistic director. “Over the past several years, Trustus Theatre has been in a structural transition,” said Bender. “One of the only constants during that change has been Chad Henderson. The board of directors worked diligently over the past year to assess and evaluate the responsibilities and duties for an organizational leader. Many of those duties were already being performed by Mr. Henderson. A theatre organization is mutable, just like many smaller arts organizations, and it must be able to recognize when that change is needed. Therefore, when hiring an organizational leader, you can only hope for one that understands the mission, is a champion for the vision, and willing to work hard to maintain that integrity. We’re lucky that Mr. Henderson possesses all of those qualities and will continue to serve as a leader for Trustus Theatre.” Henderson is honored by the opportunity to serve Trustus in this new capacity. “Trustus has been my artistic home for over fifteen years,” said Henderson. “Being given the chance to lead the organization in this capacity is humbling, and it is also energizing. I can’t quantify what this theatre has given me since its co-founders Jim and Kay Thigpen hired me right out of college, but I constantly endeavor to give back in whatever way I can. While our strategies may transform on occasion, the organization continues to be a vital cultural institution in South Carolina. My hope is that my service to the organization can position it for continued success in the next 35 years by celebrating artistry, community, and the power of storytelling.”
Trustus Theatre is currently in its 35th season as the Midlands’s contemporary professional theatre. Founded in 1985 by Kay and Jim Thigpen, Trustus Theatre boasts two performing venues with the Thigpen Main Stage seating 132 and the Trustus Side Door Theatre seating 50. The theatre and the Trustus Company endeavor to enrich the lives and deepen the experiences of their artists and patrons by producing works that examine humanity in the 21st century. The theatre’s goal is to select challenging scripts that will start and nurture dialogues that promote discussion within the community with productions that are brought to life through dynamic storytelling and inventive designs.

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What’s that? Accessibility Grants from the SCAC

'Trustus in the Round' a result of grant

It's a small grant category, but it helps South Carolina organizations do big things in the arts. Notice we didn't say "arts organizations" there. That's because Accessibility Grants are intended help South Carolina organizations make arts programs and existing facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. Non-profit organizations, units of government, and designated S.C. Department of Disabilities & Special Needs boards who provide arts programming can use an Accessibility Grant to get up to $2,500 to improve access to that programming. Sounds nice, and you should definitely read more about these grants, but what does it look like in real life? Well... Trustus Theatre in Columbia wanted its audiences to experience "theater in the round" for three consecutive productions in early 2020. Extensive renovation to the main stage would be required to convert it to a round configuration. But a problem arose: even though it's temporary, the round stage would nonetheless compromise current accessibility enjoyed by Trustus' disabled patrons. The answer was to remove 88 fixed seats to integrate accessible seating into the temporary stage structure which, when complete, would be able to reintegrate some of the removed fixed seating while allowing ramp access to patrons who need it. A $2,500 Accessibility Grant from the S.C. Arts Commission made that happen. And, because partnerships are a key way SCAC accomplishes its work, it's here that we'll note Trustus partnered with ABLE SC to develop a viable solution. The round stage debuts Feb. 7 with the theater's production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Tuning Up: Trustus puts grant to use + indigenous performers grant

Good morning!  "Tuning Up" is a morning post series where The Hub delivers curated, quick-hit arts stories of interest to readers. Sometimes there will be one story, sometimes there will be several. Get in tune now, and have a masterpiece of a day. And now, in no particular order...

Collaboration looks to be a main theme of the 34th season of Columbia's Trustus Theatre. Read more in this story from Broadway World. Something else caught The Hub's attention, though: Trustus used a Presenting and Performing Arts (PPA) Initiative grant from the SCAC to allow Scott Pattinson to make his Trustus debut in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The "play focuses on the story of an autistic teenager, and this production is also a partnership with Autism Speaks and S.C. Autism Academy." South Carolina dance, music, and theatre organizations are encouraged to learn more about, and apply for, PPA grants.
Western Arts Alliance (WAA), the Portland-based performing arts service organization, has announced the launch of a new grant opportunity for Native artists – the Advancing Indigenous Performance (AIP) Artists Travel Assistance Fund – and is accepting applications beginning Monday, November 18, 2018 through December 7, 2018. Advancing Indigenous Performance (AIP) is a national program to create new touring and presentation opportunities for Indigenous performing artists, made possible by lead funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation. AIP invests in building the professional capacities of Indigenous artists as it works to break down barriers in the performing arts.

Tuning Up: SCAC fellow’s new play to debut + Camden gallery’s season opens

Good morning!  "Tuning Up" is a morning post series where The Hub delivers curated, quick-hit arts stories of interest to readers. Sometimes there will be one story, sometimes there will be several. Get in tune now, and have a masterpiece of a day. And now, in no particular order...

SCAC fellowship recipient to debut new play. “Boy About Ten” will debut Aug. 17 and run until Aug. 25 on the Thigpen Main Stage at Columbia’s Trustus Theatre. It is playwright Dr. Jon Tuttle's sixth world premier at Trustus, where he is resident playwright. Tuttle received the SCAC's fellowship for playwriting in 2000. Read more on "Boy About Ten" and Tuttle from the Morning News/SC Now. Bassett Gallery opens new season. "Tuning Up" is happy for a quick check-in just up U.S. 1 in Camden, where grantee the Fine Arts Center is set to open the 2018/2019 Bassett Gallery season on Thursday night. Camden artist Dot Goodwin's exhibition "Life with HeART" is first up. Spartanburg 1 touts ABC Project grants. Spartanburg School District 1 scored the largest percentage of ABC — Arts in Basic Curriculum — grant funding of any district in the state, according to the Herald-Journal. The total amount headed to the district is $67,000 distributed among seven district schools. Thanks for promoting your grant!
[caption id="attachment_34666" align="alignright" width="251"] The world-famous Hub Calls for Art Megaphone.[/caption] ICYMI: Calling all potters! The Macon (Ga.) Arts Alliance would like to share with you Fired Works 2019 Regional Ceramics Exhibition and Sale featuring 60 potters from Georgia and the Southeast to be held April 5-14, 2019 in ... Macon, Georgia. The entry fee and exhibition are free to the exhibitors. Get, ahem, fired up! Hard details here. Let's show them what #SCArtists can do! (The deadline is Dec. 1, so we'll remind you once or twice between now and then.)

Leila Ibrahim joins Trustus Theatre as executive director

Leila IbrahimTrustus Theatre has hired Leila Ibrahim as the new executive director. Partnering with Trustus Artistic Director Chad Henderson, Ibrahim will work to further develop business oversight, event execution and sponsorship support. Ibrahim comes to the Columbia community with more than nine years of experience, having spent the last year in Florence, S.C., as Florence Little Theatre's executive director. "Trustus has accomplished a lot in its short history and has a great, positive momentum," said Ibrahim. "I really get the impression that they are on the cusp of becoming a true leader and regional presence in the arts -- a theatre that other theatres look up to. I hope to help continue that upward climb and help push the organization to the next level." Ibrahim's experience includes supervising, hiring and training box office staff as the box office manager at The Liacouras Center at Temple University, managing all operational aspects of ticket sales and executing 20+ events as the interim director at the Grand Opera House at Mercer University, and developing and implementing fundraising plans as the development director at Cherokee County Arts Center. "One of the benefits of a smaller, local theatre is that it can be community-focused," said Ibrahim. "We can really program and adapt to the community we serve, whether that means serving parts of the community that are currently underserved or doing work that really speaks to the current community. A smaller organization has the ability to change quicker to be more reflective of what is going on and that is a really exciting environment to be a part of." Via: Trustus Theatre

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