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SC Arts Commission Press Releases

 

Dec. 9, 2009

Media Contacts:

Milly Hough
(803) 734-8698

 

Misty Moore

(803) 734-8620

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The S.C. Arts Commission's Folklife and Traditional Arts Program has launched the Survey of South Carolina's Tradition Bearers. Graduates of the program's Institute for Community Scholars (ICS) will identify traditional artists and folklife practitioners throughout the state.

 

"The survey is necessary because many tradition bearers do not identify themselves as artists," explains Julianne Carroll, program director. "They are simply doing what they know and love and would not think to come to the S.C. Arts Commission or other arts and culture agencies for support. In order to encourage the practice of their art forms and to assist them in sharing their knowledge and expertise, we must first identify them."

 

The project not only supports the identification of tradition bearers, but gives community scholars an opportunity to put to use the fieldwork skills they learned during ICS, an intensive training program for individuals interested in documentation and promotion of community culture, folklife and traditional arts. Community scholars will collect information from traditional artists through in-person and telephone interviews. The following seven ICS graduates will identify tradition bearers in 13 counties:

 

• Maria Arroyo – Lexington
• Amanda Dew Manning – Abbeville, Edgefield, McCormick
• Ervena Faulkner – Beaufort
• Minuette Floyd – Richland
• James Gardner – Allendale, Hampton, Jasper
• Norma Hughes-Smith – Anderson
• Laura Von Harten – Bamberg, Barnwell, Colleton

 

Work in these 13 counties will conclude in February 2010. Additional counties will be surveyed beginning summer 2010. With continued support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Humanities Council of South Carolina, it is expected that tradition bearer identification will have been conducted in all of S.C.’s counties by 2013.

 

The work of the community scholars is being managed by independent folklorist Michelle Ross. Ross is adjunct faculty of folklore at the University of South Carolina Sumter and frequently participates in storytelling performances in the Sumter community. She has been instrumental in developing the S.C. Center for Oral Narration and for initiating the Jack Doyle Storytelling Festival.  

 

Individuals or organizations wishing to bring an artist to the attention of the folklife and traditional arts program should e-mail the information to sctraditions@gmail.com.   

 

About the Folklife and Traditional Arts Program:

The Folklife and Traditional Arts Program is designed to encourage, promote, conserve and honor the diverse community-based art forms that make South Carolina distinct. The major initiatives of the program serve both established and emerging cultural groups that call South Carolina home.

 

About SCAC:
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 www.SouthCarolinaArts.com or call (803) 734-8696.

 

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