Tri-county area receives grant funds from the S.C. Arts Commission

Thanks to the Charleston Regional Alliance for the Arts for posting this summary of South Carolina Arts Commission grants in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties. And of course, we love the shout out for The Hub and for the S.C. Arts Alliance!

Each fall after an undoubtedly tense state budget season, performing, visual, literary, and arts education organizations across South Carolina cross their fingers waiting to hear whether or not the South Carolina Arts Commission’s (SCAC) general operating and granting budget will stay in tact for another year.  Luckily, the 2013-2014 budget was approved as well as a $1 million increase in funds specifically for grants to organizations throughout the state.  The result is an increase in annual general operating and program specific support for the SCAC’s grantees with 15% of all grant funds coming to nonprofit arts and arts education organizations in Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties.

Here is a snapshot of overall funding granted to the tri-county for 2013-2014:
General Operating Support: $276,648 (22% of total grant awards)
Arts in Basic Curriculum Education Support: $35,560 (9.7% of total grant awards)
Small Organization grants: $7,200 (17% of total grant awards)
Subgranting (Lowcountry Quarterly Arts Grants Program): $9,491 (12.5% of all grant awards)
Total: $332,034 (15% of total grant awards across all categories)

The South Carolina Arts Commission was created by an act of the state legislature in 1967 in order to build a thriving arts environment for the benefit of all South Carolinians.  Since its inception the SCAC has focused its programs and services toward making the arts accessible to all SC citizens regardless of their economic status or location in a rural community of the state.  The SCAC’s programs and services are focused in three core areas of: Artist Development, Arts Education, and Community Arts Development.

The Arts Commission’s primary source of funding is state tax dollars appropriated by the S.C. General Assembly. Grants from the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts comprise the Commission’s secondary source of funding. Additional support for Arts Commission projects is provided by private foundations and community sponsors.  After general operating funds, 70% of funding is granted back into communities across the state in order to support the arts and artists as a viable and important part of South Carolina’s economy.  In addition to grants, the SCAC is also available to organizations year round and hosts several workshops, facilitates forums and discussions, and is available for consulting on a variety of areas of need such as board development strategies, strategic planning, etc.

Organizations receiving funds this year in the tri-county include:

Charleston Chamber Opera Park Circle Film Society* Unedited Artists*
Smalls Institute for Music & Youth Leadership SC Watermedia Society (Dorchester County) Art Forms & Theatre Concepts*
Gibbes Museum of Art* Chamber Music Charleston* Charleston Academy of Music*
Charleston Artist Guild* Charleston Concert Association* Charleston Regional Alliance for the Arts
Charleston Stage Company* Charleston Symphony Orchestra* City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs*
City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department* Creative Spark Center for the Arts* Flowertown Players*
Footlight Players* Jazz Artists of Charleston* Theatre Charleston*
McClellanville Arts Council New Music Collective PURE Theatre*
Redux Contemporary Art Center* Robert Ivey Ballet Company* Sculpture in the South
Spoleto Festival USA Summerville Community Orchestra Village Repertory Company*
Alston Middle School Ashley River Elementary H.E. Bonner Elementary
Howe Hall AIMS Elementary Wando High School Windsor Hill Elementary

 

*denotes members of the Charleston Regional Alliance for the Arts

For more information on the granting process and for a full list of this year’s grantees, please visit the SCAC’s website.  For state arts news please visit the SCAC’s new blog site, The Hub.  To get involved in arts advocacy statewide and stay up to date on state level decisions affecting the arts please join the SC Arts Alliance and receive their advocacy calls to action throughout the year.

The Charleston Regional Alliance for the Arts staff is also available anytime to answer your questions about the arts in our community and statewide.  Please contact us at info@artscharleston.org or 843.577.5288 if you’d like to get involved in arts advocacy locally, statewide, or nationwide.