Charleston Region Arts Network

Charleston is emerging as an arts hub. Our strategy is to nurture, develop, and strengthen a sustainable network of professional arts organizations.

Since the 1980s, a growing number of artists and arts organizations have been making a home in the three-county Charleston metropolitan region (Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester). As the regional arts community grows, its groups are exploring new and innovative ways to connect with one another. For example, they're looking into shared box office services and databases, shared marketing and promotions.

Our strategy in this initiative is to nurture a sustainable network of arts organizations.

Partners

Our partners are Blackbaud, Boeing Foundation, Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, Charleston Regional Alliance for the Arts, Charleston Regional Development Alliance, Coastal Community Foundation, College of Charleston,  Kite Foundation, Knowledge Capital Group, League of Charleston Theatres, North Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, Piggly Wiggly Carolina, South Carolina Arts Alliance, South Carolina Arts Commission, Spoleto USA, Summerville Arts & Business Coalition, and Trident Chamber of Commerce.

To learn more about this initiative, please contact John Sands, Director - Lowcountry Program at (843) 651-3793 or jsands@gddf.org.

Activities

With our partners, we are working to develop a shared, integrated ticketing and customer database. The result should be increased earned revenues and individual donor support, leading to stronger organizations. Future projects could include a shared community arts calendar, shared back office functions, or a campaign to more fully engage the regional business community. With these kinds of increased efficiences, arts organizations should have more resources to devote to their art. We can use a range of communication tools to share success stories with the broader community.

Grants

View entire list of grants »

From the Blog

Sewee to Santee eyes smart growth through regional branding

For rural communities suffering from poverty, development can seem like a no-brainer: if you build it, they will come, bringing jobs and opportunities with them. But as sprawl across the country has shown, development can come at the expense of a rural community’s own character and sense of place, and can leave areas ravaged when companies that built there leave for cheaper pastures. In the Sewee to Santee region of South Carolina, a vision is forming: a better quality of life for its residents built on the belief that a rich rural landscape is an opportunity, rather than an obstacle to be overcome. Read More »

A new way forward for South Carolina’s rural communities

South Carolina’s beautiful rural landscape belies an unfortunate reality of poverty. How can the state's rural communities take advantage of existing assets to achieve long-term prosperity? Read More »

Celebrate National Park Week at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

National Park Week is April 21-29, 2012. You don't have to go all the way to Yellowstone or the Everglades to participate: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is just an hour outside of Chicago. Learn more about what the National Lakeshore has to offer. Read More »

Recent Tweets

16 May
In Charleston, @puretheatre and Holy City Shakespeare collaborate on a casual, refreshing "Twelfth Night" http://t.co/cRAQAznD

14 May
Neat to see collaboration among Chicago's dance companies-- in this case Muntu and DanceWorks: http://t.co/ZpRvYhqS

14 May
In case you missed it: on Friday we posted this story about regional branding efforts in #rural SC: http://t.co/1insWBMl #Sewee #Santee

11 May
Thx, happily aboard! RT @chiwilderness #FF newest members of the Chicago Wilderness alliance: @GDDonnelley, @willconserve, @WaukeganPrkDist