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Beth Coiner has launched her kickstarter.com project! Visit Beth's Kickstarter page to see what she's up to!
Mary Gilkerson is a
third of the way to her goal! Visit Mary's project on kickstarter.com and donate!
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Keep up with the Arts Commission online!
  
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April 2010 |
Pollen. It's everywhere. It covers my car. It gets caught in my curls. It forms little paw prints on the hardwood floors when my dog comes in from a walk. What better metaphor for this monthly note to y'all?
Pollen makes it happen. Even while we complain of hay fever, we know that, because of pollen, we will soon enjoy a beautiful change of scenery. This issue of the e-news is full of metaphorical pollen. There's news from LINC and the Ford Foundation of funding for pre-planning activities related to arts spaces. We have a great story of how artist Ellen Kochansky and her family are realizing their goal of building an artist creation space in Pickens County. Jeweler Beth Coiner has launched a kickstarter.com site to raise funds for purchasing casting equipment that will allow her to start a home-based arts business. These are great examples from organizations and individuals who are adding the pollen to their plans and making them reality.
Putting a plan into action is scary sometimes. We often have great plans on paper and can't seem to launch ourselves into action. This will be an area of focus at the 2010 Artists' Retreat. I hope you'll attend. Besides this focus, there will be lots of time devoted to getting to know artists around the state and identifying ways we can work together and move everyone forward (maybe like cross-pollination?) Please register soon and send the information to South Carolina artists who may not be receiving our email notices.
Keep in touch!
 P.S. Those of you with terrible allergies to pollen will be interested in a commentary on the new health care bill provided by The Actor's Fund! |
 LINC and Ford Foundation offer pre-development grants for new arts spaces
Nonprofit arts organizations with strong track records of artistic
excellence, who are intending to buy, build, renovate, partner in the
development of, or become anchor tenants in a vibrant artist space can
apply for up to $100,000 in support of a facility project. Exemplary
projects will not only result in dynamic artist space facilities, but
will also function as engines of cultural equity and social change,
applying innovations and best practices in artist space development that
produce sustainable, affordable facilities for the continuation of
artistic excellence. It's important to move quickly on this opportunity, as the first due date is in late May. Read more on the LINC website! |
 So, what else is happening with the Artists' Retreat?
Glad you asked!
Our time at the retreat will be spent three ways: exploring new artistic skills in laid-back
environments through "Choose Your Own Adventure" sessions like Percussion to Find Your Rhythm, Yoga for
Creativity and Sketching when Things are
Fuzzy; learning about each other's
work through social time, PK presentations and showcase; and focusing on how we can set our plans to action
in a way that benefits our individual careers and the general scene for artists
in South Carolina. Register today and come prepared to be yourself, listen and share, and have a
heck of a good time! |
 Rensing Center honors namesake, provides artists a home away from homeThe Rensing Center is a new
nonprofit organization that focuses on creative interaction, environmental
awareness, and entrepreneurial imagination.
Located on 34 acres in the beautiful southern Appalachian foothills of Pickens, SC, the Rensing Center
encourages its participants to experiment with unfamiliar disciplines to spark
creative ingenuity and refresh personal perspectives.
Artists Jamie Davis and Ellen Kochansky
purchased 11 acres in the woods near Six Mile in 1979. Over the next decades, in an old welding/
blacksmith shop that was nothing more than a roof, a forge, and a dirt floor,
grew a quilting studio, a pottery studio, and a woodshop. A nomadic tribe of friends from the national
craft scene stopped by often on their way up and down the east coast, so
hospitality became a habit and a source of inspiration. To learn more about the Rensing Center, visit the AVI blog for the full
article or check out the Rensing Center website.
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 A clean bill of health for artists
By JIM BROWN, The Actors Fund
The health care reform bill passed by Congress has the potential to benefit
every visual and performing artist and entertainment professional in this
country. Everyone who supports the arts should be celebrating the
positive changes it will bring to artists' access to high quality, affordable
health care. Visit the AVI blog to read more.
Jim Brown is the Director of Health
Services at the Actors Fund. His work has been central to the creation of www.artistsunitedforhealthcare.org
and www.ahirc.org,
two websites that continue to connect artists with vital information about
their healthcare options.
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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, S.C., 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 South Carolina Arts or call
803.734.8696.
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