South Carolina: The Art of Community: Rural S.C.

Photo by SCAC Art of Community Project Director Susan DuPlessis

The South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) has a new pilot program advancing rural development through the arts, culture and creative place making. With financial support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Agency, The Art of Community: Rural S.C. will facilitate community-led planning and projects in six rural, underserved counties designated as a Promise Zone by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The teams undertaking the projects each consist of seven local residents with deep knowledge of their community’s assets and challenges as well as the skills, vision and capacity to address them. Each is led by an SCAC liaison, known as a “maven,” who recruited the other participating stakeholders. SCAC also is providing a broad support network through an advisory committee consisting of experts from national organizations such as ArtPlace America, Art of the Rural, Rural LISC, and The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking as well as from state and regional entities including SouthArts and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission. The teams have held preliminary meetings—including a field trip by the mavens to Kentucky’s Promise Zone—and now are designing their projects, which may address issues such as health care, education, housing or work-force development. Find out more by contacting SCAC Executive Director Ken May.