Tuning Up: SCAC grantee gets Grammy nomination + Poetry Out Loud finals
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"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...
Wooten gets Poetry Ourselves runner-up honors at POL national finals
From the NEA:
The state champions competing at the national finals also had the opportunity to showcase their creativity through an optional competition, Poetry Ourselves. The students could submit an original work of poetry in one of two categories: either a written poem or a video of a spoken poem, both of which were judged by poet Mahogany L. Browne and announced at last night’s National Finals. The winner in the written category is Natasha B. Connolly from Rhode Island. The winner in the spoken category is Stella Wright from Minnesota. The runner-up in the written category is Irene Jiayi Zhong from Hawai’i. The runner-up in the spoken category is Catherine Wootenfrom South Carolina. Winning poems are available on the NEA’s website at the links above.
S.C. music professor gets Grammy Award nomination
From Post & Courier reporting (subscription might be required). Eric Schultz (right), clarinetist and assistant music professor at Coastal Carolina University, was nominated for a 2024 Grammy Award in the Music Educator category. He is one of 212 quarterfinalists chosen from among more than 2,000 nominations. The award recognizes current public and private educators teaching kindergarten through college for their contributions to music and maintaining music education in schools. Schultz was a recipient of an FY22 Artists' Business Initiative grant, which he used to produce the album polyglot, set for release later this year.
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
Tuning Up: A bravura performance by Charleston youth musicians
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"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...
Start your day off inspired.
March 3 in the Sottile Theatre, the award-winning Charleston County School of the Arts Sinfonietta performed with virtuoso violinist Francisco Fullana in a program of music by Holst, Shostakovich, Montgomery, and Fritz Kreisler. The performance culminated Fullana's week-long residency with the SOA Sinfonietta, a part of Chamber Music Charleston’s Youth Chamber Music Initiative.
Oh, and it was funded in part by a South Carolina Arts Commission Term Arts Education Project grant. That grant category is currently open, closing March 28, to fund like projects. (Hint, hint.)
Here's a sample of the finished product, because you simply must watch:
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
Tuning Up: Design lead selected for new performing arts center
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...
Arts Center of Fountain Park selects designer
Remember our coverage of the upcoming Arts Center of Fountain Park? In late February, it announced the selection of Pfeiffer, a Perkins Eastman specialty design studio, as designer of the the performing arts center planned for the Fountain Park area of Rock Hill. The multi-year design project began last month. First step? A phase of gathering community input. Read more from ACFP here. The Hub is excited about this project in the rapidly-growing Piedmont area.
"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...
Over the river ... and to the Midlands' new hotspot
Tuning Up: S.C. arts leader added to national cohort + awards reminders!
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...
National Leaders of Color Fellowship Cohort
The first cohort of the National Leaders of Color Fellowship (LoCF) program has been selected, representing 53 leaders from across the U.S. including South Carolina's Davelyn Athena. The cohort will participate in a strategic leadership development program for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) leaders committed to the advancement of cultural equity in the arts that emphasizes policy and data in the arts, leadership, culture of care, and strategic foresight through an advocacy lens. You can read more about the LoCF program—and Davelyn—here. She is executive director of the Upstate-based Speaking Down Barriers organization. Congrats to her!
Nominations for South Carolina's arts awards are closing in just more than a week.
Nominations for both are open through Sunday, Nov. 6 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The 2023 recipients will be honored in spring 2023 during the South Carolina Arts Awards broadcast on SCETV.
Jason Rapp
Tuning Up: High School Writing Contest + #SCartist philanthropy
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...The UofSC Honors College is soliciting submissions for the 2022 High School Writing Contest. Up for grabs are cash prizes and a publishing opportunity. Honors students will select 20 finalists whose writings on the topic "How should we improve the state of South Carolina?" will be reviewed by Ron Rash, short story writer and novelist. The annual contest is open to juniors and seniors at all S.C. public, private, or home schools, and the deadline to submit is September 26, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Learn more and submit contest entries on this page.
[caption id="attachment_51004" align="alignright" width="250"] A pencil drawing from Caroline 12 years ago, before she became a professional artist, of her son who was battling cancer at the time, and his puppy, Abby.[/caption]
So you know how The Hub solicits reader news submissions? We, devoid of greed or the need for others' rightful attention, will publish those with "Submitted material" as the byline. Or sometimes here, as the case might be. Here's such a submission.
Caroline, an animal and wildlife oil painter located in Beaufort, operates Alpha Mare Studio. Her son is a two-time cancer survivor, and each year she uses her art to raise money for awareness and related causes. Earlier this year she completed the S.C. Trailblaze Challenge, hiking 28.3 miles in one day to raise over $5,000 for Make-a-Wish Foundation. To bring attention to September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, she is giving a discount on any and all types of paintings and prints for anyone who donates to their favorite childhood cancer-related cause. Details on the Alpha Mare website.
Cheers, Caroline!
Jason Rapp
Tuning Up: Music festival + dance opportunity news
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...
Here's some good arts news to report. We're all for that, right? Hooray, consensus!
Transitional experience for hopeful professional dancers
Auditions are coming for Carolina Ballet Theatre's new pre-professional dance program. (CBT is located in Greenville.) The program’s purpose is to provide a transitional experience for dancers moving from an academic ballet setting to the world of professional dance. In addition, the pre-professional’s artistic talent enhances the professional company roster. The curriculum emphasizes the development of professional practice, self-evaluation, reflection, career readiness, and goal-setting for the emerging dance artist. Development of artistic skill and technique is introduced simultaneously with participation in live concert dance. The performance season consists of Peace Center shows, Black Box shows and community outreach engagements.
If you are or know a dancer between 16 and 20, auditions are Saturday, Aug. 13. The day consists of a 90-minute class, a 30-minute breather, and then an hour for auditions.
Music festival coming back to Columbia
From ColaDaily.com:
For the first time since 2019, the Jam Room Music Festival is returning to Columbia's Main Street.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Titus Andronicus are the headliners for the event, set for October 1 with one stage on Main Street and another on Hampton Street in front of the Columbia Museum of Art.
Tuning Up: S.C. Arts Alliance job extension + cross-sector grants + jazz collab
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...
A big arts job posting gets an application extension and South Arts opening a grant opportunity for cross-sector work are the Friday morning headlines. Let's go!
South Arts announced recently announced the opening of a new cycle for artist or arts org cross-sector impact grants that harness the power of collaboration with a non-arts partner. Grants of up to $15,000 are available. Here's a snippet: "Cross-Sector Impact Grants are open to all art forms, for partnership projects taking place in South Arts’ nine-state region. For FY23, eligible projects will continue to feature 'Arts & …' collaborations, for example, arts and the military, arts and equity, arts and aging, arts and community revitalization. The projects must take place between Jan. 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024. The deadline to submit a Letter of Interest is Aug. 1, 2022."
Speaking of collaborations, we thought this was cool: SCAC operating support grantees Charleston Jazz and the Gibbes Museum of Art are teaming up to present a three-concert "Art of Jazz" summer concert series at the Gibbes. Concert dates are June 22, July 20, and Aug. 24 and the concerts begin at 6 p.m. which gets you out in time to enjoy one of America's great dining scenes in one of its great cities. Poor you!
Jason Rapp
Tuning Up: Amiri de Artist to be featured on Juneteenth + Arts Center of Fountain Park
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...
New Amiri Farris exhibition tour kicks off on Juneteenth
You remember Amiri Farris, right? Farris' art figured prominently in the Art of Community: Rural SC's Creativity + Public Health initiative. He's back this summer with a touring exhibition that kicks off on Juneteenth. Before it hits the road, there's even a send-off concert with Quentin Baxter and his Quentin Baxter Quintet that will feature Farris painting live on stage. Where can you find this #SCartists goodness? All the details and more are right here.
New performing, gathering space coming to life in S.C.'s Olde English District
Big things in the works in York County. Arts Center of Fountain Park is coming to life to become the home for performing arts across York, Lancaster, and Chester counties. "The new center will be a hub for the organizations to produce and present events and activities year-round for diverse and eager audiences," according to its just-launched website. The Hub is eager to track its progress! (We promoted the search for its executive director earlier this year.)
Jason Rapp
Tuning Up: Nickelodeon screenings to resume + Sandlapper Singers
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...
Columbia's Nickelodeon Theater to reopen next week
From ColaDaily.com:
The Nickelodeon theater will reopen next week, with two movies beginning Friday, April 15 through Sunday, April 17. Audiences will be able to enjoy 'The Worst Person in the World', a 2021 drama-comedy about the quest for love and meaning in contemporary Oslo, and Everything Everywhere all at Once, a sci-fi comic-action-adventure film, in updated facilities. The new announcement comes after the theater suspended screenings March 1. According to The Nickelodeon Board President, Xavier Blake, theater board members are working to reset and recommit to the organization's purpose.
Choral group to present Dan Forrest requiem
Dan Forrest is a South Carolina-based composer whose “Requiem for the Living” has been presented all over the world since its premiere in 2014. A Requiem, at its core, is a prayer for rest—traditionally, for the deceased. The five movements of Forrest's “Requiem for the Living,” however, form a narrative just as much for the living, and their own struggle with pain and sorrow. The Sandlapper Singers are set to share the stage with the Charleston Southern University Concert Singers and chamber orchestra accompaniment to present this work in Columbia and Mount Pleasant:
The Sandlapper Singers is funded in part by operating support from the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information about Sandlappers, visit https://sandlappersingers.org/.
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S.C. music professor gets Grammy Award nomination
A pencil drawing from Caroline 12 years ago, before she became a professional artist, of her son who was battling cancer at the time, and his puppy, Abby.[/caption]
So you know how 
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