$5,000 In Small Grants Announced By York County’s Arts Council

The Arts Council of York County is pleased to announce the allocation of Small Grant awards for the first quarter of the 2020 – 2021 fiscal year. Small Grants are available to individual artists, non-profit organizations, teachers and schools throughout York County. These grants are designed to support specific arts activities that promote the individual artist’s professional development or career advancement and/or to support a wide variety of quality arts projects and programs that promote excellence in arts disciplines and make such disciplines accessible for general community-wide audiences.

Organizations and individual artists residing in York County, SC may request up to $1,000 per grant and may receive up to two grants each calendar year. The Arts Council awarded Small Grants to four artists and organizations for the 1st Quarter of the 2020 – 2021 fiscal year. Recipients include:

York County artist Leah Mulligan Cabinum is developing a new body of work that will be exhibited at 701 Center for Contemporary Arts in Columbia, SC in 2021. This new installation includes sculptural objects constructed using a variety of methods and utilizing multiple materials including ceramics, fiber, and found objects. Cabinum is working towards a goal of developing a method of combining the materials and objects to produce a multitude of individual, stand-alone pieces designed to serve as components of a larger piece when presented as a cohesive installation. Development of this project requires extensive research. Leah is working with noted ceramicist Alice Ballard Munn to learn more about creating clay sculpture. This Small Grant provides the support needed to purchase supplies. | http://www.mulliganarts.com

ChristmasVille Rock Hill is an annual festival which combines holiday celebration, recognition of local artist Vernon Grant’s iconic art, and promotion of Old Town Rock Hill’s merchants, restaurants, and historic architecture. Normally a three-day even during the first week of December the 2020 festival staff is faced with transitioning all of the hallmarks of a bustling physical festival into a partially virtual one.

One principle means of doing this is to create a virtual platform comprising a smartphone application and software/visualization suites that allow patrons to access a multitude of events, presentations, and contests. Additionally, this platform will allow ChristmasVille to create a new and improved virtual artisan market. The platform will allow artists to sell items directly from their pages within the app. This Small Grant will fund the development of the virtual platform suite developed for this year’s festival. | https://www.christmasvillerockhill.com

In partnership with the Rock Hill Community Relations Council (CRC) and Carlo Dawson, chair of the Rock Hill Community Relations Council, are working to create a mural that is contiguous with the City of Rock Hill All American City motto, “Rock Hill for All.” The mural will embody the relations and effort to reduce discrimination, assess and respond to the human relations needs of our community, and serve as a source of information to advocate and recognize change to achieve the CRC mission. It also calls attention to the All-America City Award achieved by Rock Hill in 2020.

With this street mural the Rock Hill Community Relations Council seeks to bridge cultures, work cooperatively with elected officials and Arts Council of York County, civic, business and community leaders to develop and promote a greater awareness of the principles of diversity, racial harmony, social justice and non-violence.  attract new businesses, and to promote a strong sense of community. This project will also help brand Rock Hill as an arts destination. The Arts Council’s Small Grant will support the development of this project, and cover the cost of materials and artist expenses. | https://www.cityofrockhill.com/departments/boards-commissions/more/boards-commissions/boards-commissions-list/community-relations-council

The Fort Mill History Museum’s History Trunk Program teaches 3rd and 8th graders about Catawba Indians and the history of Fort Mill. This program was designed to supplement traditional classroom lessons and features a trunk filled with historic artifacts that are presented by retired teachers in a 55-minute, hands-on history lesson.  Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the program has been put on hold, but that’s not stopping the Fort Mill History Museum.

They have reimagined the program and are producing a series of videos that can be used in the classrooms and by homeschoolers. The first video series will focus on the 3rd grade program and consists of 5 videos that include lessons about housing and food, weaving and pottery, dance and children’s games, and King Haigler and Thomas Spratt. This Small Grant supports the development and production of the Fort Mill History Museum’s virtual History Trunk Program. | https://fmhm.org

The Housing Development Corporation of Rock Hill intends on painting an asphalt mural on the basketball court at Friedheim Park. This project is community-driven with the community leading the project from beginning to end, including the selection of the artist, development of the mural content, and installation of the mural. This project is in partnership with the Old Town Rock Hill Mural Mile Project and the City of Rock Hill’s Housing and Neighborhood Services Department. This Small Grant will help fund the development and installation of the Friedheim Park Basketball Court Mural. | https://www.cityofrockhill.com/departments/housing-neighborhood-services/more/housing-neighborhood-services/housing-development-corporation-of-rock-hill

To review guidelines, visit www.yorkcountyarts.org/grants. The next deadline is Tuesday, September 1, 2020 at 5 PM for programs occurring in October, November, and/or December 2020. Prospective applicants MUST discuss the proposed project with the Executive Director at least 10 days in advance of the application deadline date. Should the deadline fall on a holiday or weekend, grant applications are due the last business day prior to the deadline.

This Small Grants program is funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission (which receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts), and the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of the Coastal Carolina Community Foundation, and Comporium Communications.