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SC Arts Commission in Columbia, SC, Announces FY2012 Artist Fellowships

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

A Little Commentary on this Announcement

I have no problem with these selections – I think they’re both great, but I’ve got a few problems with the process. First, I’m not sure if the problem is that so few artists are applying for these fellowships or if it’s the fact that the same people keep applying for it, but it’s a shame with so many talented artists in this state that we have repeat winners. Also, I don’t think the Arts Commission should have people with close ties to SC’s art community on the selection panel.

But, why beat a dead horse. Nothing will change while the same folks are in charge.

Here’s the press release – I added the images of work by each artist. I guess the Arts Commission thinks photos of the artists are more important than examples of their work.

The South Carolina Arts Commission Board in Columbia, SC, has awarded Individual Artist Fellowships to two South Carolina visual artists in the categories of visual arts and craft. Each artist receives $5,000.

This year’s fellows are:
Visual Arts: Jonathan Brilliant, Richland County
Craft: Russell Biles, Greenville County

“The arts, and all the benefits they bring, depend on capable artists, who are central to the creative industries in our state,” said SC Arts Commission Executive Director Ken May. “The fellowships offer resources that artists can use to advance their careers. We’re fortunate to have funds to award thanks to a generous contribution from the South Carolina Arts Foundation.”

The SC Arts Commission board approves fellowships based on recommendations made by out-of-state review panelists, who select fellows based solely on a review of anonymous work samples. The visual arts and craft panelists were: Rene Barilleaux, chief curator/curator of art after 1945, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Lia Rose Newman, director of programs and exhibitions, Artspace, Inc, Raleigh, NC; and Miguel Gomez-Ibanez, president, North Bennet Street School, Boston.

The South Carolina Arts Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting the education and arts development programs of the SC Arts Commission, funded three of the four fellowships awarded this year (two others in Music). Individual artists working in poetry, prose, dance performance and dance choreography can apply for the 2012-2013 fellowship awards. The deadline to apply is Nov. 1, 2011.

FY2012 SC Arts Commission Artist Fellows’ Biographies

Jonathan Brilliant, Richland County – Visual Arts Fellow

Jonathan Brilliant holds a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from the College of Charleston and a Master of Fine Arts in Spatial Arts from San Jose State University. He has served as a visiting artist and artist-in-residence for numerous communities, schools and universities, including the Ox-Bow School of Art, the Penland School of Crafts, Redux Contemporary Art Center, University of Oklahoma, University of Memphis, and recently for the East/West Project in Berlin, Germany. In 2007, Brilliant was awarded a Joan Mitchell Foundation fellowship to attend the Vermont Studio Center. In 2009 he received the juror’s award at the National Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition and was named a South Carolina Arts Commission Visual Arts Fellow alternate. Brilliant creates compositional elements by weaving, welding and stacking various mediums, including such re-purposed coffee shop items as stirrers, lids and cups. From May 2009 – December 2010 he conducted his “Have Sticks Will Travel World Tour,” a series of site-specific installations in 13 galleries on two continents. In September 2010, Brilliant was named the winner of the Columbia Design League’s inaugural “Play With Your City” public art competition. In addition to site-specific installations, Brilliant works with drawing, sculpture and photography and lectures at universities across the country.

Russell Biles, Greenville County – Craft Fellow

Russell Biles received his Bachelor of Visual Arts in Sculpture from Winthrop University. His works have been displayed throughout the Southeast and are in collections from Arizona to the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. Described as a “sculptural satirist,” Biles focuses on culture’s obsession with celebrity to engage his audience. His works range from 1 to 10 feet in scale and have been featured in many national publications, including American Craft and The Ceramic Narrative. Biles received the Juror’s Choice Award for his work, “The Red Clay Survey,” at the Huntsville Museum of Art in 1994 and was named a South Carolina Arts Commission Visual Arts Fellow in 2001. He continues to serve the arts community by doing commissioned work and providing workshops, school residencies, master classes and other educational programs. In September, his work will be displayed in “Contradictions,” an exhibition at the Mindy Solomon Gallery in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The South Carolina Arts Commission is the state agency charged with creating a thriving arts environment that benefits all South Carolinians, regardless of their location or circumstances. Created by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1967, the Arts Commission works to increase public participation in the arts by providing services, grants and leadership initiatives in three areas: arts education, community arts development and artist development. Headquartered in Columbia, SC, the Arts Commission is funded by the state of South Carolina, by the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts and other sources.

For more information, visit (www.SouthCarolinaArts.com) or call 803/734-8696.

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Why Did the SC Legislature Pass a Law Making the SC Arts Commission Spend 70% of Its Funding on Grants to SC’s Art Community?

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

So, why exactly did the SC Legislature have to pass a law demanding that the SC Arts Commission spend 70% of its state funding on grants? Why did they have to write that stipulation into law? Could it be that the Arts Commission was spending more on themselves than they were giving out in grants to other arts organizations?

Over the years I have pointed out that the SC Arts Commission, the cat with nine lives, was one of the largest state arts agencies in the country – much bigger than state art agencies in our region. Yes, they may be a lot leaner today than they used to be, but the Arts Commission is still a bloated agency which carries an expensive overhead. I’m led to understand that this 70% restriction will mean some folks at the Arts Commission will lose their jobs, which I feel sorry for, especially in these times, but this agency has brought all their current problems down on themselves.

Over my 25 + years in following the arts in this state I have always wondered what all these people are doing when I can see so little results in the general art community that they contribute – other than handing out money to their friends. They can go on and on in reports they write themselves, about all they are doing and what they have accomplished each year, and their fans – mostly people who receive funding and awards from them, will back up those self-preformed pats on their back.

Look, I’m for government funded art. You don’t see me railing against the NC Arts Council or the NEA. My problem is with the SC Arts Commission and their version of what serving the arts community means – serve yourself first – then the art community.

The truth is in the numbers. And, these are the latest numbers available from the SC Comptroller General’s office. These are some of the expenses of the SC Arts Commission – mostly their overhead in distributing funding to the people who do the real arts in our state. These numbers are from FY 2009-2010, not that long ago. Current numbers are not available – I wonder why.

Equipment – $5,076

Membership fees, rentals and rent – $347,565
(of which $268,507 is for rent of their building) I would have thought they could have purchased a building in the Vista years ago with that kind of rent.

Utilities – $42,869

Personal Services – $1,115,415
(On this item I know fewer people are there now working at the Arts Commission since 2009-2010, but here are some of the latest figures on salaries of just six employees who make over $50,000 – the limit where the State has to tell you what they’re being paid. This does not include State benefits.)

Figures as of May 13, 2011

Ken May – $91,664.00
Harriett Green – $55,284.00
Charles “Rusty” Cox – $54,596.00
Susan Duplessis – $51,854.00
Clay Burnett – $51,560.00
Joy Young – $50,609.00
(These six salaries total $355,567 and there could be 20 more people who make around $40,000.00 each if not more.)

Supplies & Materials – $23,997
($3,020 of that was postage, but I can’t imagine what they are mailing with the invention of e-mail.)

Transportation – $68

Travel – $27,568
(Now here’s a category that should be totally gone after last year’s cut-backs where the agency said it would do no more travel, but let’s see where some of this was going: $1,995 for in-state lodging; $10,441 for non-state employee travel; $903 for out of state lodging; $8,982 for leasing of state-owned cars; etc.)

The total of these expenses I’ve listed is $1,562,558.00. And, I didn’t list all the categories offered as I didn’t totally understand them, but that’s $1.5 million in overhead already – just to say we have an arts agency.

Salaries, rents and utilities don’t go away – so depending on what their budget allocation is from year to year (FY 2012 – the state budget for them is $1.9 million) it makes a big difference what’s left over each year, even when you throw in Federal monies, when so much has to come off the top on July 1 – every year. And, what do we get – an agency who decides who gets the rest of the money in the arts community or more like who won’t.

I think the SC Arts Commission has been consuming close to 50% of its budget by just existing.

The Arts Commission was also telling the public that it will also lose $250,000 the state appropriated last year in one-time stimulus funds, for a total year-to-year reduction of 16% in state appropriations. Again – they don’t seem to understand what a one-time thing is. You only get it once – you don’t get to then say the next year that  money is being cut from your budget this year. It was a one-time deal, get over it.

So in summation, I think the 70% clause was written into the law to force the SC Arts Commission to get lean like the rest of us have had to and make them spend the bulk of their budget on money for artists and arts groups – not themselves.

Don’t feel sorry for them yet, the alternative was no agency at all and they will still get their hands on $1.3 million from the Feds, which I’m sure has less restrictions on it. We all know how well the Federal government keeps track of our money.

So, the real question of the day is: Does the law mean that the SC Arts Commission has to make sure 70% of its total budget (including Federal money) has to go to grants or does it just mean 70% of what the State of SC has given them? And, what restrictions does the Federal money have on it? Where was it intended to go and to whom?

Because 30% of $1.9 million is $570,000 and the top six employees are paid $355,567 – that doesn’t leave enough to pay the rent on the building ($268,507) those six people would be rattling around in. So unless there is some slight of hand at work here or they can use that Federal money for whatever – there is either going to be a caretaker staff at the Arts Commission outnumbered by the Commissioners or the real arts providers in SC are going to get screwed again by the Arts Commission skimming off that Federal money.

And as long as the State of SC allows the Arts Commission to report on themselves without any audits – who’s to know where that money really goes.

I’m glad I’m not part of a non-profit that is hoping for a decent piece of the pie. If the next time you see someone from the Arts Commission and they have cherry pie all over their face – well, oh my.

The link to the SC Comptroller General’s office for the SC Arts Commission’s 2009 – 2010 expenses – their overhead before grants are given are at (https://ssl.sc.gov/SpendingTransparency/CategorySearchResult.aspx). Then just click Annual Summary and then select the year and the SC Arts Commission. You may even want to look back over time to see where all its money has been going.

No pie for you!

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SC Art Commission Dangles Carrot in Front of SC Legislators and Funding Recipients

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

The SC Arts Commission posted pending FY 2012 grants numbers, “early”, to show SC Legislators how much money their districts would loose in arts funding before they decide if they will override an expected veto of arts funding by our Governor, who has promised her Tea Party friends to veto any funding for the arts.

Grant awards are usually announced in July after the beginning of the new year funding cycle, but I guess the Commission felt a need to show them early so those who would receive them could carry their fight to their legislators.

It makes me wonder what the folks at the Arts Commission are doing besides trying to stay alive. It doesn’t seem like they’ve been doing anything else for the last 3-4 months.

I’m having a hard time deciding who is worse for the arts in our state – our Governor or the SC Arts Commission. It really seems to be a toss up. No wait – they’re both bad for SC.

What ever happens – next year lets hope for reconstruction – putting a new arts agency under SC PRT.

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How Much Do SC’s Public Workers Get Paid?

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

I was surfing through The State newspaper (online version) in Columbia, SC, as I do many Carolina newspapers keeping up with what’s going on and I noticed a headline which has probably been there for months, but for some reason caught my eye today. The headline was, “How much do SC’s public workers get paid?”.

The State offers a date base (http://www.thestate.com/statesalaries/) of what some State employees make each year. This database contains names, positions and salaries of state government employees making $50,000 or more a year in base salary, as furnished by the agencies in response to SC Freedom of Information Act requests. I just had to look and then I wished I didn’t. And as far as I know, these salaries do not include the value of State benefits and other perks (use of cars, travel expenses, etc.) given to these employees.

Here’s the question. Should Ken May, head of the SC Arts Commission make $91,664.009 a year?

That’s almost as much money as our new Governor was paid to raise funds for a Columbia hospital – another headline story in The State (http://www.thestate.com/2011/03/16/1738514/hospital-no-one-here-filled-out.html). According to The State, the not yet Governor was hired as a fundraiser by Lexington Medical Center in August 2008, a position created for her at a $110,000-a-year salary, which she held until April 2010 – although the not yet Governor had no experience as a fundraiser – other than being a politician. But that’s no big deal – lots of people in SC government are given important jobs with no experience.

Now, I’m going on record here. Ken May thinks of me as his nemesis. So I guess wondering if the job he is doing is worth $91,664.009 – it could be considered another poke at him and the SC Arts Commission.

But, I’m also wondering if Harriett Green, visual arts coordinator, should make $55,284.009 a year? I’m not sure that’s the kind of money anyone should be paid for moving a few exhibits (the same exhibits) around the state from year to year. So, it’s not just about Ken May.

Of course I guess these salaries are based on the old SC Arts Commission – the one that had twice the budget a few years ago – compared to the new Commission which will get smaller and smaller over the next few years – it not disappearing all together. And, I wonder how they figure in the .9 cents?

And, folks don’t forget – a smaller budget at the SC Arts Commission means smaller grant funds to groups and artists and smaller services rendered – but it seems the salaries… Well, maybe they’re less than what they used to be? Isn’t that how it works – the less money you have (I can’t say make) the less money you get?

Well, anyway – I wish I hadn’t clicked that link at The State. I was much happier not knowing. How about you?

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Nina Liu and Friends Gallery in Charleston, SC, Receives Verner Award from SC Arts Commission/Foundation

Friday, February 18th, 2011


Nina Liu outside her gallery and friend Aggie Zed (r)

OK, this is meant to be a congratulation to Nina Liu – make no mistake about that, but it is also about the SC Arts Commission and SC Arts Foundation.

I think everyone would agree that in these days of cutbacks in funding for the arts it would have been better to make the announcement of who will receive these awards and let UPS deliver them, but instead the folks at the Arts Commission/Foundation decided to play their fiddle while Rome burns. And, they’re letting visual artists have the honor of helping them raise money to put on a party, through another art auction.

If you’re of my thinking on all of this – would we expect anything else? Yes, this is exactly what I’ve come to expect from them. But, like they say – even a broken clock gets it right twice a day.

So, congratulations to Nini Liu, the woman behind Nina Liu & Friends gallery in Charleston, SC. She has served artists and the art community in Charleston for 25 years as well as doing the same in Iowa, Louisiana, California, and Michigan, before landing here in South Carolina.

Liu has been a long-time supporter of Shoestring Publishing Company, including Charleston Arts, South Carolina Arts and now Carolina Arts. She helped start the French Quarter Gallery Association, providing coordinated art walks in Charleston. We worked with her and others to make it the largest art walk in the Carolinas. Now everyone has one.

And, I know she has done a lot to help other art organizations such as the Gibbes Museum of Art, College of Charleton School of the Arts, and Spoleto Festival USA, to name a few. But most importantly for me, she has been a regular sounding board – I rarely travel to Charleston without stopping to have a short or sometimes long conversation with her.

I’m glad she got her Verner before I told that to everyone.

So, Nina Liu and her gallery will share the spotlight at the 2011 Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Governor’s Awards for the Arts (Business Category) with Carolina First Bank of Greenville, SC – that’s if our new Governor doesn’t want to take back her title from the award. I doubt she’ll show up to hand the awards out – that would seem a little hypocritical, but maybe she will- it wouldn’t be the first time for her.

As far as the other Verner Award recipients – I don’t know who most of them are – which is the way I would guess others around SC would think when they read Nina Liu’s name. I’m sure they have had similar impacts on the communities where they live – or at least we would all expect that they do or did. It helps to think of these things as regional awards to folks who have had some impact on a regional basis. Yet, I can’t help but think that some awards over the years and this year (hopefully very few of them) are self-serving by the Arts Commission – rewards to a few good friends of theirs.

All I know is – we could all use a lot more Nina Lius as friends.

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SC Arts Commission Wins 2011 Top Award for Fiction Writing and the Year is Just Beginning

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

When it comes to writing fiction, I know of no one better than the folks at the SC Arts Commission, who have just released their strategic plan for the arts for the next ten years.

On Jan. 4, 2011, The Post & Courier newspaper in Charleston, SC, published a guest editorial (signed by West Fraser and Barbara Nwokike) entitled, Plan for a better S.C. through the arts. I say these two people signed this letter, because I doubt they had any part in writing it and I hope they don’t believe much of it. My guess is as SC Arts Commission commissioners – they were obligated to sign their names to it. This it the kind of “writing your own history” the staff of the Art Commission produces.

You can find the A Long-Range Plan for the Arts in South Carolina, 2011- 2020, starting at this link (http://www.southcarolinaarts.com/plan/index.shtml) and then follow the links and see how far you get before you get sick to your stomach.

I challenge you to find one measurable goal. These folks are masters at producing the most broad-based, specifically vague goals. But no worry, they don’t spend any time analyzing their progress in reaching those goals or even bothering to see if they reached any of those goals before they move on to the next ten year cycle. Not so funny thing – most of the goals are the same each ten year cycle – they’re just reworded. But, I’ll be amazed if the SC Arts Commission even exists (as we know it) before this ten year cycle is over – if not gone all together before the end of our next Governor’s four year term.

I know I’m still waiting for them to reach a few goals they made 10 and 20 years ago.

I attended two of the regional Canvas of the People events, which is only part of the Long Range Plan process – apparently a minor part, and I see no sign of the major goals the people attending those meetings were looking for. They wanted more funding from the Arts Commission, SC Government, and the public and private sectors. They wanted more help and opportunities from the Arts Commission.

What they’re going to get is fiction writing and an entrenched state agency where most of the employees are hanging on for retirement.

The best thing that could happen in this state as far as the art community goes is for legislators to close this agency down, take the average of the last ten years of the budget of the Arts Commission (less the massive overhead of the Arts Commission) and divide that money up between the 46 counties in SC based on population. That would give the art community the same money they have been given each year and will save the state millions. Let county leaders put that money where they think it can best be used (in the arts) instead of central government bureaucrats deciding where it should go and how it should be used. The county leaders have to answer to the people more than protected bureaucrats do. Let SC’s art communities reflect their true nature – not New York City.

And, if someone asks – “Where will all the expert guidance the Arts Commission provides come from?”  – let the counties demand partnerships between leading businesses and the art groups in those counties in order to get funding. Besides, the only people who would ask such a question are those who are on the gravy train already and their noses are a little brown. The art groups will learn more useful practices in their relationship with successful businesses.

I’m not wasting anymore time on this subject – I can find better fiction, less frustrating fiction, at my local public library – which deserves more funding from SC than the SC Arts Commission does. The libraries in this state earn every penny they get – over and over again.

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South Carolina Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts Forms to Help SC’s Artists

Monday, October 25th, 2010

It’s good to see that the SC Arts Commission is finally getting around to providing SC’s artists a service that has been in NC for over 20 years. North Carolina Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts is a network of lawyers in North Carolina with experience in art law issues. Find info at this link.

Although I had to get the info from a third party involved – not the SC Arts Commission, I don’t mind saying this is a good thing.

Better late than never, but pretty late compared to our neighbors – who they always say they try to work in conjunction with.

Here’s the info:

The University of South Carolina School of Law in Columbia, SC, has partnered with area arts organizations to give them and the low-income artists they represent a new resource for legal assistance.

The South Carolina Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts will offer an online service that provides pro-bono assistance to the arts community.

This new resource is available at (www.SCvolunteerlawyersforthearts.org).

The SCVLA is a project of the school’s Pro Bono Program and Nonprofit Organizations Clinic, as well as the SC Arts Commission and the SC Bar Pro Bono Program. It refers those needing legal assistance to lawyers who have agreed to donate their time.

“This collaboration has been in the works for many years,” said Ken May, executive director at the SC Arts Commission. “We’re proud to see that it has come to fruition and is now providing the South Carolina arts community with this valuable service.”

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the law school to expand its relationship with the communities surrounding it,” said Walter F. Pratt Jr., dean of the School of Law. “Building on our nationally known Pro Bono Program, this new venture will allow even more students to learn the value of service to their community while, at the same time, acquiring skills that will make them better lawyers in the future.”

The service uses an online application system to gather facts from artists and arts organizations to match them with appropriate legal representation. SCVLA, cannot assign an attorney to a specific client, nor can it assist all clients. Some clients may be referred to an attorney outside the program.

Artists and arts organizations seeking legal advice or lawyers interested in volunteering their service can visit (www.SCvolunteerlawyersforthearts.org) to complete an online application.

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Kentucky Artisan Center Goes Extra Miles for Kentucky’s Visual Artists

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010

It’s funny how you can run into something that takes on a life of its own. That’s what happened when I wrote a story about a visit to the Kentucky Artisan Center on my way to Michigan this summer. Ever since I wrote that entry, readers have been e-mailing me about items relating to that story. First, it was about TAMARACK: The Best of West Virginia, an artisan center in Beckley, WV, and then a Charleston, SC, on-line publication, CharlestonCurrents.com, asked if I would write up my idea of a SC artisan center at the intersection of I-26 and I-95, and now an artist in Kentucky who came across the story sent me a link to an article in The Richmond Register about the Kentucky Artisan Center setting up a satellite gallery in Lexington, KY, for a big event. It seems there is no limit to what the Kentucky Artisan Center or State of Kentucky will go to in helping Kentucky’s artists.

It would be nice to see some of that here in SC. Wouldn’t it be nice if the SC Arts Commission or the state of SC would open an artisan center in Charleston, SC, during the run of the Spoleto Festival USA each year – showcasing our artists to that audience? At least that is cheaper than building an artisan center.

You can read the article in CharlestonCurrents.com at this link.

You can read my last entry on this issue at this link.

Here’s the article that was in The Richmond Register.

Here’s the newspaper article:

Artisan Center to open store at WEG – September 20, 2010

BEREA — For the first time, visitors will be able to shop at a Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea store in Lexington. The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea will showcase the creative works of over 400 of its Kentucky artisans in a satellite store created for The Kentucky Experience complex at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park from Sept. 25 through Oct. 10.

Housed inside the Kentucky Proud Product Pavilion, which is one of three buildings that make up The Kentucky Experience complex, this satellite store will be a smaller version of the center’s main facility off I-75 in Berea, but will look and feel very much the same.

Showcased in the store will be a wide range of Kentucky artisan works including pottery, jewelry, woodworking, baskets and fiber art; two-dimensional art such as paintings, prints, photography and note cards; books by Kentucky authors, beauty products and home furnishings and a selection of Kentucky music and Kentucky Proud food products.

The Kentucky Artisan Center Satellite Store will include over 2,000 products created by 400 Kentucky artisans from over 140 Kentucky communities in more than 85 counties. The store will be open daily from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. except for Sept. 25, when it will be open until 10 p.m., Oct. 5 when it will close at 5:30 p.m. and Oct.10 when it will close at 5 p.m. This store is one of many areas the public can visit with a General Admission ticket.

The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea also is presenting at this location, demonstrations and book signings by Kentucky artisans, and the Kentucky Proud program is presenting food samplings daily. These events are scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Kentucky Proud Product Pavilion.

“We are excited to have this opportunity to introduce Kentuckians and visitors from around the world to the creative works being made by the state’s talented artisans,” said Victoria Faoro, Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea Executive Director. “We hope that people attending the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will visit the Kentucky Experience complex to enjoy all that Kentucky has to offer, and shop in the Artisan Center at Berea’s Satellite Store in the Kentucky Proud Product Pavilion— to take home wonderful Kentucky artisan-made products.”

Throughout the games, the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea will also be open regular hours at its Berea location at 975 Walnut Meadow Road, just off I-75 at exit 77. The center’s exhibits, shopping and travel information areas are open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the café is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The center features works by more than 650 artisans from 100 counties across the commonwealth.

For information, call 859/985-5448 or visit the center’s website at (www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov).

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The Story of the SC Arts Commission’s Failure to Develop a Major Artisan Center in SC Just Won’t Go Away

Monday, September 20th, 2010

I never intended for this to be a continuing issue, but others just won’t leave it alone. My first blog entry about the Kentucky Artisan Center got a lot of attention and then a regular reader pointed out to me that the State of West Virginia was first to create this artisan center concept on major interstate highways.

I knew when I wrote the story nothing would ever happen in South Carolina – it’s just too logical – especially since we have one of the best locations for it – the intersection of I-95 and I-26. Logic doesn’t stand well in our state – at least at the state level.

Now SC is strapped for money, but these states had their vision when times were good. I guess the SC Arts Commission doesn’t really keep up with what their neighbors are doing. And, our art community is left behind – way behind.

Now we introduce you to TAMARACK: The Best of West Virginia.

I haven’t been there yet, but I will go and check it out someday. But here’s some information I found on their website.

TAMARACK: The Best of West Virginia

Tamarack’s striking, peaked red roof and attractively landscaped grounds draw half a million visitors annually off I-77 and I-64 (Exit 45 at Beckley, WV) into a welcome respite of visual beauty, Appalachian sounds, and distinctive aromas.

A one-stop-shop for West Virginia culture, heritage, handcrafts, fine art, regional cuisine and music, Tamarack employs a rigorous jurying process to ensure product quality and authenticity.

Resident artisans work daily in observation studios to demonstrate textiles, metal, wood and pottery. Throughout the year artisan demonstrations and food tastings engage visitors in new experiences. The fine arts gallery offers a glimpse of the current art scene. Live musical, theatre, dance and storytelling performances, as well as West Virginia films, are scheduled in the intimate 178-seat theater.

Tamarack is not only a well-known tourist attraction but a major economic contributor. The Tamarack System, as a statewide economic impact component, affects all 55 counties to the tune of nearly $51 million in goods and services purchased to date. Craft sales have totaled $61 million.

Tamarack’s world-renowned partner, The Greenbrier, manages dining services, offering Tamarack guests delectable cuisine in the food court, during dinner theatre, at special events, and for meetings and special occasions in the Tamarack Conference Center.

Hospitable, accessible, accommodating and memorable—Tamarack is truly a showcase for The Best of West Virginia.

The Tamarack Vision for West Virginia

We envision a vibrant cottage industry in West Virginia where jobs, market opportunities, training, and educational resources abound for West Virginia’s artists, artisans, craftspersons, and food producers, and our rich cultural heritage and artisan skills and traditions are preserved and strengthened for future generations of West Virginians.

The Tamarack System will be recognized globally as a dynamic catalyst and premiere showcase for all aspects of advancing West Virginia arts, crafts and food products and those who produce or perform them.

History of Tamarack

TAMARACK: The Best of West Virginia is the nation’s first showcase of handcrafts, fine art and regional cuisine. It comprises a warmly decorated retail store, working studios for resident artisans, a fine art gallery, a theater, and A Taste of West Virginia food court, managed by The Greenbrier Resort.  Additional meeting space is available in the Tamarack Conference Center.

A visionary governor, Gaston Caperton, set the stage for Tamarack’s conception, and in October 1989, the Parkways Authority issued a $143 million bond; a small percentage was set aside to upgrade rest areas along the turnpike, and concession revenues from these – not toll revenues or tax dollars – were to fund tourism and economic development projects.

The Road

As the new director of Economic Development and Tourism, Cela Burge had an idea to connect West Virginia craftspeople with turnpike travelers.  When Cela suggested to the Authority’s Board of Directors that West Virginia products be sold in the new service plazas, the board agreed to the idea.  Nobody expected much to come of it. But, the crafts were a big hit. During the grand opening of the Princeton Center, complete with musicians and a big pot of apple butter cooking, Governor Caperton told David Dickirson, a member of the Parkways Authority’s  Board of Directors, that it would be wonderful to have a place with that type of atmosphere every day of the year.  Thus, the idea for Tamarack was born.

During the next six months, Burge and her helpers met with craftspeople far and wide; outlined a strategic marketing plan for developing the new center; began searching for architects; expanded warehouse facilities; and planned fact-finding visits to art and craft centers in several states. Dickirson approached Rod Stoner, director of food and beverage services at The Greenbrier, about providing their expertise.

A Design and A Name

In May 1993 Clint Bryan and his associates, Doug Bastian and John Harris, won the project. Their proposed design was arresting, innovative and eminently functional.  A Beckley firm, Radford and Radford, won the construction contract.

Tamarack was named in the late spring of 1993 by The Arnold Agency in Charleston, WV.  Linda Arnold, a Beckley native, and her creative team of Dick Allowatt and Carrie Stollings proposed the name of a tree, also called the American larch, known for its qualities of strength, beauty and versatility.

Organizing Artisans

Meanwhile, Cela Burge and her associates were meeting and learning from another group of people who were integral to the project – the artisans.  The jury process to select products sold at Tamarack, has been in place since the beginning to insure quality and authenticity of WV-made items.

Artisans were also involved in the construction of Tamarack.  West Virginia artisans created structural elements – and were paid by contract – a year before visitors ever touched Tamarack’s handcrafted door pulls.

The Challenge

From the first, Tamarack – both the building and the concept of a centralized marketing system – aroused strong reactions. Governor Caperton consistently voiced high hopes for Tamarack.  And in October 1994, The Crafts Report devoted its cover feature to “West Virginia’s Bold Experiment.” A few months later, the national publication honored the Parkways Authority with its Crafts Consciousness Award.

Building a Dream

At the official groundbreaking on August 8, 1994, visitors sampled food from The Greenbrier, including the fried green tomatoes that have become a signature of Tamarack.

Behind the scenes, Tamarack’s staff and jurors continued their work. Artisans who passed the jurying process then received an initial order. For some, it was the largest order they had ever received. By June 1995, Tamarack had placed orders with more than 900 artisans. By the end of 1996, more than 1,300 West Virginia artisans were selling their wares at Tamarack, over 450,000 people had visited, and sales had topped $3.3 million.

Tamarack’s David L. Dickirson Gallery represents over 500 juried West Virginia artists. Exhibitions rotate every six to eight weeks showcasing the best of West Virginia fine art.

Tamarack’s popularity as a gathering place and the more than fruitful partnership with The Greenbrier sparked the idea of adding a conference center. The grand opening for the Tamarack Conference Center was held on June 20, 2003.

Tamarack has continued to grow.  Over 2,800 artisans from all fifty-five counties have become part of the Tamarack family.  Gross revenues have topped $78 million and purchases for goods and services have exceeded $65 million.  And as of June 30, 2007, Tamarack had enjoyed almost 5.2 million visitors.

This history was created from excerpts of Tamarack at Ten by Colleen Anderson.

TAMARACK: The Best of West Virginia is located at: One Tamarack Park, Beckley, WV  25801. Admission and parking are free. Retail hours are: Jan. 5 – Mar. 1, 10am-7pm and Mar. 2 – Jan. 4, 8am-8pm. Food Court hours are: Breakfast – 8am-10:45am; lunch and dinner – 11am-closing.

For further information call the Center at 304/256-6843; 1-88-TAMARACK; or visit (http://www.tamarackwv.com/default.aspx).

OK – It sounds like this kind of project is not only a cultural boon to a state, but an economic one too. I can envision one of Charleston, SC’s finest restaurants providing the food end of things and the thousands of people who travel those interstate highways the support. All we have to do as a state is to build it, but if the powers that be ever come to that conclusion – I hope they leave the SC Arts Commission out of the picture. They never had such vision – why should they change their color now. It will take the vision of people who know about tourism matters – the artists of SC will contribute the artistic end of things.

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SC Arts Commission Awards 221 Grants in 37 South Carolina Counties

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Here we go – a look at where all the money is scheduled to go. I say scheduled, as many of these groups and individuals who have  been awarded a grant may never see the full amount of their grant. Why is that? I though the people of SC had saved the Arts Commission from cuts the governor planned. Yes, lawmakers passed the buck of responsibility to the Budget and Control Board which will later call for across the board budget cuts as projected revenue falls short – which everyone knew will happen, but it made the lawmakers look good in the eyes of the public – at least those crying about not getting their continued art welfare.

I’m all for government support of the arts, I just like them to spend my tax dollars wisely. That doesn’t always happen here in SC. The Kentucky Artisan Center (http://www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov/) is a good example of taxpayer dollars spent wisely. Here’s a blog entry about that center.

Here’s the Arts Commission’s press release:

COLUMBIA, SC -  The South Carolina Arts Commission has awarded $1,278,726 to South Carolina communities, artists, arts organizations and schools for the 2011 fiscal year. Funding in the programs of Arts in Education, Folklife and Traditional Arts, General Operating Support and Subgranting will support 221 projects in 37 counties.

See the list of grant recipients by program (http://www.southcarolinaarts.com/awards/index.shtml).

“Our goal is to make the arts available to all South Carolinians, regardless of their location or circumstances,” said South Carolina Arts Commission Executive Director Ken May. “With support from these grants, schools, artists and arts organizations will administer more than 200 arts programs that benefit students and communities throughout the state. By providing funds for these grants, the SC General Assembly is investing in our state’s quality of life, the education of our young people and the vitality of our economy.”

Arts in Education grants help fund artist residencies, performances, curriculum planning and implementation and professional development for teaching. The Arts Commission awarded 65 AIE grants to schools, school districts and arts organizations for a total investment of $270,677.

Of this amount, $170,400 in ABC Advancement grants has been awarded to 31 schools and school districts that are participating in the Arts in Basic Curriculum Project, which works to ensure every child in South Carolina-from pre-school through college levels-access to a quality, comprehensive education in the arts. The ABC Project is cooperatively directed by the Arts Commission, the S.C. Department of Education and the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Winthrop University. This year’s AIE program is funded in part by the SC Arts Foundation.

Folklife and Traditional Arts grants support programs that promote a greater understanding and visibility of South Carolina’s many cultures through documentation and presentation of traditional art forms, their practitioners and their communities. The agency has awarded $11,750 in Folklife and Traditional Arts grants. Grants will fund two traditional arts projects, including a Native American documentation project in Lancaster and a traditional arts music camp in Pickens. Also funded is a Folklife and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship that will connect an apprentice with master artist to learn the traditional art form of basket making.

General Operating Support grants strengthen arts organizations that bring ongoing arts experiences and services to individuals, other organizations and communities throughout the state. A total of $940,719 in General Operating Support has been awarded to 144 organizations, nine of which provide statewide services.

Subgranting funds are allocated to local arts councils to distribute quarterly grants to organizations and artists in their regions. This program is funded in part by an award from the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of The Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina. The Arts Commission has provided $55,577 in Subgranting dollars to nine arts councils from throughout the state to serve artists and citizens in 12 counties.

The Arts Commission awards other grants throughout the year, including Quarterly Project Support, Arts in Education grants and Individual Artist Fellowship Awards.

The South Carolina Arts Commission is the state agency charged with creating a thriving arts environment that benefits all South Carolinians, regardless of their location or circumstances. Created by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1967, the Arts Commission is celebrating 40 years of increasing public participation in the arts by providing services, grants and leadership initiatives in three areas: arts education, community arts development and artist development. Headquartered in Columbia, SC, the Arts Commission is funded by the state of South Carolina and by the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information, visit (www.SouthCarolinaArts.com) or call 803/734-8696.

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