[Narrator] Brought to you in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Hello.

This is Governor Henry McMaster, and I'm happy to join you in celebrating the arts and culture of our Palmetto State.

During this broadcast, we will recognize some of the contributions and achievements of our artists and advocates.

Our natural beauty extends from the mountains to the sea.

Our history is magnificent.

Our heritage priceless, all reflected vividly, and our people's talent, character, tradition and strength and presented to our imaginations through their works.

Let us always join in celebration.

♪ opening music ♪ ♪ I'm David Platts, Executive Director of the South Carolina Arts Commission, and it is my pleasure to serve as host for this presentation at the 2024 South Carolina Governor's Awards for the Arts.

For more than half a century, the South Carolina Arts Commission has worked to promote the arts and artists across the state and supported the cultivation of creativity to build a thriving arts environment that benefits all our citizens from the mountains to the sea.

Shortly, you will be introduced to the four recipients of this year's South Carolina Governor's Arts Awards.

Through their creative and innovative spirit and their hard work, they have impacted lives well beyond their local communities and have contributed immensely to helping make our state the remarkable place we are all proud to call home.

On behalf of Governor McMaster and the entire South Carolina Arts Commission, thank you for joining us in this ceremony and welcome.

If you have seen this ceremony in the past, you may notice that we are doing things a little bit differently this year.

Traditionally, we have used this ceremony to present not only the Governor's Arts Awards, but also in collaboration with the University of South Carolina's McKissick Museum, the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Awards.

Our friends and partners at McKissick, who administered the Folk Heritage Awards, are in a period of transition right now.

We, of course, wish them well and are excited for them to return next year to join us in full celebration of the arts across the state of South Carolina.

In presenting this year's awards recipients, it is my privilege to recognize, congratulate and thank some remarkable people and organizations, artists and arts advocates whose achievements have enriched the lives of so many of us across our state.

South Carolina is blessed with much with a rich and colorful history, with the beauty and majesty of nature, from the Piedmont to the Sea Islands, from the Pee Dee to the Lowcountry.

But most importantly, with industrious, creative and passionate people.

Past and present, the people of South Carolina have made and continue to make our state an extraordinary place.

Speaking of place, in 2014, the South Carolina General Assembly authorized the creation of a statewide cultural district program and empowered the Arts Commission to designate, recognize and promote cultural arts districts across the Palmetto State.

In the ten years since the program's inception, our Board of Commissioners has designated 11 such districts.

Cultural districts arestrollable geographic areas with a concentration of cultural facilities, activities, and other assets and attractions.

They are known for galleries and artists, studios, theaters and other live performance venues, public art, museums and arts centers.

But they also offer attractions like parks, restaurants and bars and other commercial activity.

So while serving to foster the arts and culture, these districts also provide creative and economic incentive to promote, invest in and revitalize their communities.

All 11 districts contribute greatly to the 14 billion dollar annual impact the arts and creative sector makes on our state's economy.

That includes an essential 360 million in yearly tax revenue for South Carolina.

In presenting this year's Governor's Awards for the Arts, we will take the opportunity to visit two of these amazing cultural districts that grace our state.

I am coming to you from the Chapman Cultural Center, anchor of the Spartanburg Downtown Cultural District.

Let's take a quick tour of this vibrant district.

♪ ♪ ♪ Since 1972, the Governor's Awards for the Arts have honored individuals, organizations, businesses and public agencies for artistic achievement, partnership and promotion.

Like our cultural districts, each of this year's recipients is unique with their own talents, dedication and accomplishments.

It is time for you to meet them.

Short videos by talented South Carolina filmmakers have become can't-miss viewings for many of you.

These document and showcase the award recipients, artfully capturing the spirit and impact that make them worthy of their honors.

The films will be shown after some special introductions that we hope will please and maybe even surprise our award recipients.

This year's awardees have not only enriched our state's cultural scene, but through their efforts and accomplishments, have expanded the visibility of and accessibility to the arts for our communities.

Our first recipient, the South Carolina Philharmonic, is certainly noteworthy for that.

While Music Director, Morihiko Nakahara has taken the orchestra to a new era of artistic excellence, the orchestra is as well known for what it does off the stage as for what it does on it.

For most of its 60 years, the orchestra played to enthusiastic audiences, and then COVID took that away.

A quick pivot out of necessity made the S.C. Phil an early leader in streaming concerts, greatly increasing access and earning national recognition.

Today, it is not unusual for orchestral ensembles to pop up and perform in Midland's health care facilities, homeless shelters and other spaces.

Educational concerts bring thousands of children from across South Carolina the joy of musical learning yearly and they recently introduced a sensory friendly concert where audience members may fully experience orchestral music without the constraints of a traditional performance.

Audience members are free to move about, dance, speak and even sing.

These are but a few creative ways that arts organizations have adapted and can adapt to increase access to the arts.

That is how you serve your community.

The Philharmonic is very important to the community because it's an art organization and music has a very unique way in being able to relate to many people.

Music can be therapeutic in so many ways, and music gives everyone an opportunity to be a part of a collective way of art and expressing yourself.

The South Carolina Philharmonic's specialty is performing in unique places that will not typically have live music.

The Philharmonic offered that service to not only to the people of Columbia, South Carolina, but to the world.

Congratulations, South Carolina Philharmonic on your Governor's award.

Your work that you give to the community and service will continue to resonate throughout Columbia, South Carolina, and the world.

I started here as the music director in 2008, and I've had other music director positions before for a few years before that, but this was really sort of, this is the job that really formed me in a way, not only as a musician, but, you know, as an advocate for for what we do.

So I grew up watching this orchestra, essentially.

I think this orchestra was created in 1964, and I was born a year later, So I grew up with it.

Through the years I've had just the amazing opportunity to get to know the musicians, many of them, and as is probably one of the greatest joys of working here.

<Morihiko Nakahara>I feel like we're all still constantly evolving, which is, you know, which is great.

You know, when you're with an organization for a long time, like like I have been, sometimes I think there's a danger of being comfortable or kind of, you know, just trying to rehash sort of the things that you think work.

It's really all have to like, adapt and find a way to reach out to everybody in the community and, you know, so I think that sort of became a catalyst for us to, you know, think about how we, how we do business.

<Rhonda Hunsinger> Our orchestra is very fortunate in that we have a very strong board of directors and we have a symphony league with volunteers that help us and the people that volunteer for us just have a real love and passion for having music in the community, but also understanding what music brings to the community, how it makes Columbia an attractive place to live and do business.

There's just a sense of joy when our musicians perform here, and the staff here as well just has a great relationship with the musicians, and I think the musicians know that we deeply appreciate, admire the work they do, and they know that we value very much what they're doing, and that's important.

I get to go watch them rehearse and perform, and it just brings back why it's all worthwhile.

<Morihiko Nakahara> We all have to do our part.

Conducting is really what I enjoy the most, it challenges me the most, for sure.

And, but it's also I feel like that's the most rewarding aspect I think of of this job.

♪ <David Platts> An arts educator committed to providing unique experiential opportunities to her students in and out of the classroom, Dr. Minuette Floyd has been an elementary art teacher and artist in residence and is currently a professor of art education at the University of South Carolina School of Visual Art and Design.

With an impressive career spanning nearly four decades, she has taught more than a dozen different arts and arts education courses at U.S.C.

has led service learning trips to London and South Africa and wrote a grant to take ten first generation college students to Ghana, where they used art to open dialog and learn about other cultures.

Since 2002, she has served as professor of record for the Curriculum Leadership Institute in the Arts, which provides experienced arts teachers with the opportunity to further develop and improve their teaching skills.

Her Young Artists Workshop in Columbia lets arts education majors teach instructional units to area children, many of whom come from underrepresented communities and who receive scholarships to attend.

She, not only she is very supportive colleague, but she's very ethical.

She communicates that love for teaching and love for art education in everything she does.

So just everybody gets to know the true contribution that she had, not only to the South Carolina state, but also nationally.

Dear, Minuette, Congratulations on this amazing, amazing achievement.

One of the probably biggest achievements of your lifetime.

You did a lot for students and for the state, for teachers in the state, and I feel that your presence in this program made immense impact on our students who become art teachers and carry with them all the knowledge and all the desire not only to include diverse artists in their curriculum, but also to be ethical, to listen to children, to make sure their curriculum attends to children's needs, because this is exactly what you teach them every day.

So thank you from the bottom of my heart Here, I'm helping prepare the next generation of art teachers and art educators.

And so, that to me became very important.

I thought that that would be very impactful because I get to know my students as students and I see them grow.

They have to have a passion and some joy in their heart for what they're doing, and that, that is more than just loving kids, it's also thinking about your profession and loving what you do, but also maintaining your own artistic practice.

I think is very important.

So in terms of camp meeting traditions, it was important for me to document the tradition because I thought it was important.

I think it's important for the younger generation to understand and know the history of the camp meetings, history, traditions and art are, they intertwined with one another.

I think it's important that, you know, if you think about the history of South Carolina and especially in terms of of Black people coming into South Carolina, that we brought our traditions, we brought our art forms, we brought our food traditions, we brought all of that with us.

Dr. Floyd is one of those really special educators that combines generosity with warmth, passion and professionalism.

Every time I sit with her, I feel like I'm sitting down with a long lost friend.

I feel like we connect through the arts, for studio practice, and I think she, I think she shares this very generously with many of her students.

She wants to see generations of educators enter the classroom and be ready, but also be open and being willing to be agile because you never know what's going to happen when you encounter a young learner or a youth.

You can usually find yourself in works of art.

When I talk with my students, I think it's, I try to explain to them that they want to think about personal relevance, how you can look at a work of art, but think about ways that you can engage children with those works of art.

When I think back on my career and some of my early decisions about what career path I would take, I know that I made the best decisions <David Platts> From the rolling hills of the upstate, I now come to you from the sandy soil of the state's Pee Dee region.

Welcome to Florence's cultural district, which was designated in 2017 and is part of an impressive downtown renewal that has made Florence into a true cultural hotspot.

From here in the Francis Marion University's Gately Gallery, we will introduce our remaining two 2024 Governors Awards recipients.

But first, let's take a look around this impressive district.

♪ ♪ ♪ This year's individual category recipient is known in Somerville as a powerhouse of wisdom, knowledge, discernment, passion and humility.

A community builder who works to create more colorful South Carolina.

Diane Frankenberger inspires and assists anyone interested in creating with textiles, from children looking to sew their first doll to artist exhibiting worldwide.

Frankenberger's idea to turn the old Summerville town post office into a free to all nonprofit community art center took shape in 2020.

Now, a thriving center of creativity, arts, education, studios and exhibitions all free and open to the public.

The center welcomes more than 25,000 people of all ages each year.

Her People, Places and Quilts, a fabric store and educational space, is in its 34th year and was named one of the top ten quilt shops in North America.

Our individual category recipient for 2024, Diane Frankenberger.

So my mom, Diane, she of course, is very artistic and influences a lot of art and people, but I also think my mom's true art is seeing the good in everybody and always choosing to do what's right, whether that's the most popular thing or not.

She has mastered that art in addition to the arts in which I think we're here to talk about.

Hey, Mom!

John, Ru, James and I are so proud of you.

I know that you can't believe that you won this award, but truly, if anyone should receive this award or any award, it's you.

We're so proud of you and we love you.

[sound of sewing machine] My full name is Diane Chase Frankenberger and I happened to own a store in downtown Summerville, an old hardware store that I bought.

I care about everybody who comes in there, and it doesn't matter how you're dressed, how much money, you don't even have to buy anything.

We're glad you're there.

I love to hear the stories of what they made and why they made it.

So I love the stories of overcoming.

I love the testimony.

That's what it is.

It's about testimony and how they live their life.

I mean, it doesn't get any better, I guess.

And what have I given to the community?

I've given history.

There is a sense of history when you walk in that store because of the things that I have kept that belong to that store, the cash register, the tables, the equipment that is from other stores that are no longer there, that I wanted.

What other people might consider junk, I considered a treasure.

I didn't grow up knowing anybody that quilted except my first husband's aunt and she taught me how to quilt.

And I started making a quilt.

I saw a picture in Time magazine and I thought, Man, and they called it folk art, but it was anything but folk art.

It was beautiful.

Those quilts were about being perfect.

The ones that I really like that are imperfect are the Afro-American quilts.

Man, I love those quilts.

There is such spirit to those quilts.

The Quilts of Gee's Bend, Oh, gosh, nothing better.

But anyway, the two one woman shows that I've had is because somebody else fell through and I happened to have it.

But isn't that how life works?

You know, I didn't have to orchestrate that or turn in a resume or and even this award, I didn't have to do anything except be me.

I mean, well, praise God is what I want to say about that.

Isn't that nice?

At the Public Works Arts Center, Kevin Morrissey was in charge of that show and COVID hit, and I forgotten who was supposed to be there when supposed to be me.

And he said, Do you have enough stuff for a show?

I said, I do.

It was completely different stuff.

And so we hung that up.

And even though it was COVID, they had a great turnout.

Once again, testimony.

One of my favorite ones was Eliza's quilt, it was about Indigo, and it had a different, I had put a snake in it for evil and I put black hands because they were the ones that did the indigo.

I think perfect things are like perfect people in there are boring because they've tried so hard to be perfect.

Sometimes it's just, sometimes the imperfect things have more spirit.

It's spirit I'm after and I know it when I see it.

I know it when I hear it, I know it when I see a person and it doesn't mean they're perfect people.

♪ Campbell Frost, Being recognized for Lifetime Achievement was born in Columbia in 1942.

It was there when he was only four years old that a neighbor mixing colors on the palette introduced the young child to the wonders of art and began him on a lifelong journey of artistic creation.

After serving in the U.S. Army, Campbell earned a fine arts degree from the University of Tennessee and returned to Columbia, where he worked as an art instructor at Midlands Technical College.

He participated in two bygone Arts Commission programs for underserved populations, teaching art at the Old Central Correctional Institution and on the crafts truck portable classroom in rural areas.

He taught atSesquicentennial State Park, schools and paint and craft stores and still teaches in Orangeburg once a week and at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church closer to home.

His widespread impact is undeniable and is perhaps best illustrated by this one anecdote.

Campbell briefly attended to serve as a judge at a regional art competition, but ultimately decided he needed to withdraw from this service.

Why, you may ask.

It's because too many of his roughly 24,000 students were submitters.

Campbell is, I think he basically just lives art.

I mean, when we do live shows together at the fairgrounds for example, here in Columbia, people will come up and if they're not one of his students, and many of them that come through are former students and recognize him, but they'll come up and admire one of his paintings and he'll say, "Thank you," and then quickly, "You know, you should be a painter."

And they'll say, "No, I can't draw a straight line," and say, "No, no, really, you really should.

You can try."

He wants, he knows there's art inside everyone and he wants everyone to be able to express that.

And his goal in life is to basically let everyone know that and teach them how to go about achieving that result.

Campbell I just want to say it was an honor to nominate you for this award.

As I said in the nominating letter, I couldn't think of anyone that deserved this honor more than you.

You have been an inspiration to me and to literally thousands of people over the last 50 years.

And I hope that you're with us much longer to do it for a much longer period of time.

You have been a blessing in our lives.

You say that we have been a blessing in yours, my wife and I, but it's actually the opposite is true.

We have been delighted to know you and look forward to working with you for a long time to come.

♪ ♪ I like the chart.

I like the chart.

That's nice.

You bringing that out real good.

yeah.

Campbell makes a fantastic first impression, and what comes across most is his ability to connect with you.

The people that he's taught art to find creativity in themselves.

They trust him.

They sense his goodness.

<Gregory Edmonds> Campbell Frost sees an artist and every human being that he meets.

He's taught, we estimate, based upon the number of students per class, the number of classes per year.

We estimate he's taught between 20,000 and 24,000 people in person over the last 50 years.

Times with me is that I can share what I know from others and pass it along, see, and I enjoy that and I enjoy giving more than receiving.

It's strange, but everything I give comes back double.

<Rajas Longhe> He just go around and he tell us, do this way, that way.

Give us some little tips.

I drive from North Charleston to Orangeburg for this class.

I just love the class.

I love coming to camp.

I love the students.

<Campbell Frost> I enjoy working with people, watching them glow.

I mean, forget about your worries.

<Vivian Glover> Campbell finds art and scenes that other people might overlook.

Wildflowers growing in unexpected places.

His colors for the sky.

His colors using light.

They all, to me, suggest his way of connecting with nature.

<Campbell Frost> I tell some people to, oh, I wish I had done this young, I wish I'd done this and that.

I say, you never too late.

Grandma almost started painting when she was 80 years old.

<Vivian Glover> I think of him as Johnny Appleseed.

Wherever he goes, he's going to put something down and it's going to be for the good of the people in that community.

<Campbell Frost> Painting is stress free, it release pressure, and for just about three or four hours a day, it takes you away from the world, this, to me is not work, but, the class here pays me to have a good time and I enjoy it.

<Suzi Graham> Oh, Campbell's a character.

[laughs] He's very personable with his students, and I think that's why they love coming here.

It's not just learning about art.

<Campbell Frost> I can't imagine what my life would be without art.

♪ <David Platts> Congratulations to the South Carolina Philharmonic, Dr. Minuette Floyd, Diane Frankenberger and Campbell Frost, the 2024 recipients of the South Carolina Governor's Awards for the Arts.

It was an honor to host this wonderful presentation for another year.

Thank you for joining us to celebrate.

Our team, and I hope you enjoyed the documentaries and surprise testimonials and that this broadcast shows you our appreciation for our awardees' many accomplishments.

As we conclude, it was Pablo Picasso who once observed, "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

This year's award recipients exemplify this washing away of everyday dust, helping to make our state more vibrant, more beautiful, more alive for all South Carolinians, and for all those fortunate enough to visit.

♪ closing music ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [Narrator] Brought to you in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission and by viewers like you.

Thank you.