South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Arts Winners Announced | Columnists

The SC Arts Commission announced seven qualified winners of the 2021 South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Arts.

From a trumpeter to an award-winning poet, from a university chancellor to a philanthropist, honorees are recognized for exceptional efforts in the arts across South Carolina. The awards are the state’s highest award for achievement in practice or support for the arts.

“With the Governor’s Award, we celebrate the achievements and we thank these winners for enriching life and culture here in South Carolina,” said Arts Commission President Dee Crawford. “The winners always represent the best in South Carolina. They are talented, successful and dedicated. They exemplify giving themselves to ensure that everyone who wishes can benefit from access to the arts. “

The recipients are:

• A posthumous award for his work as a whole was given to Tom Flowers (Greenville), a talented educator and artist who died in December after his nomination for the award. Born in Washington, DC, Flowers spent 30 years teaching art at Furman University, serving as chairman of the art department for most of his term.
• An artist award was given to Charlton Singleton (Charleston), a trumpeter, former music educator, conductor and artistic director who is a member of the Grammy-winning band Ranky Tanky. Singleton was named inaugural resident artist at the renovated Gaillard Center in Charleston and regularly serves as a speaker, composer and arranger.
• An individual award went to Jennifer Clark Evins (Spartanburg), president and CEO of the Chapman Cultural Center, where she leads the day-to-day operations and management of the city of Spartanburg and the county’s local arts agency. Along with her coordination of arts across the county, she is almost 26 years old as a visionary community and artistic leader across the state.
• An Arts in Education award was given to Tayloe Harding. As dean of the School of Music at the University of South Carolina, in addition to being a composer, Harding also participated and led efforts on the steering committee of the Arts in Basic Curriculum Project, advising on the cultural plan for the city of Columbia and for his One Columbia for Office of arts and culture.
• A Business / Foundation award was awarded to Colonial Life, the Columbia-based financial protection benefits market leader who has made significant investments each year to support state education, health, wellness, arts and culture programs.
• An organization award was given to the ColaJazz Foundation, a premier jazz destination that highlights talented artists and jazz educators active in and around the city. The program includes receiving international jazz stars, ColaJazz Summer Camp, ColaJazz Fest, Great Day in Columbia, among other events and initiatives.
• A special award honored Marjory Wentworth (Mount Pleasant), a former South Carolina poet who won this role this spring. Wentworth is a nationally acclaimed poet who counts among her numerous published titles “Out of Wonder, Poems Celebrating Poets”, which she co-authored, and the award-winning children’s story “Shackles”.

“Marjory’s years as a laureate poet were an extraordinary gift for our state. Poetry cleanses us, pointing us to different futures, teaching us to be better than we are. ”Said Bud Ferillo, board member of the Arts Commission who nominated Wentworth for the award.

For Singleton, an Awendaw native who embraced his Gullah heritage in his work with Ranky Tanky, receiving the Artist Award has a deep resonance.

“To be recognized by your own state is the greatest honor,” he said.

The SC Governor’s Awards for the Arts is presented annually by the Arts Commission. They are voted on by the appointed members of the agency’s board of directors, based on the panel’s recommendations. The SC Governor’s Awards for the Arts is presented annually by the Arts Commission. They are voted on by the appointed members of the agency’s board of directors, based on the panel’s recommendations.

A diverse committee, appointed by the committee’s board and made up of members across the state, reviews all nominations.

The Governor’s Awards for the Arts and the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Awards are presented to those contemplated at the SC Arts Awards ceremony, usually held in person each spring. As with the move from last year’s pandemic to a virtual format, this year’s awards will also be online, with a date and time to be announced later.

The mission of the SC Arts Commission is to promote equitable access to the arts and to support the cultivation of creativity in the state of Palmetto. Based in Columbia, the state agency is funded by the state, the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts and other sources.

For more information, visit SouthCarolinaArts.com.

Follow Maura Hogan on Twitter at @msmaurahogan.