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McNair Award
The S.C. Arts Foundation is honoring Susie Surkamer, former executive director of the S.C. Arts Commission, with the 2011 McNair Award for dedicating more than three decades to ensuring that the arts continue to play a vital role in our nation’s schools and communities.
The award will be presented at the S.C. Arts Gala, May 4 in the Grand Hall at 701 Whaley in Columbia. The event will also recognize the 2011 Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Governor's Awards for the Arts recipients, including Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Mary Jackson of Johns Island and C. Thomas "Tommy" Wyche of Greenville. Reserve tickets to the South Carolina Arts Gala online or by calling (803) 734-8696.
Established in 2007, the McNair Award is named for the late Governor Robert E. McNair, who signed legislation to create the Arts Commission in 1967 to “ensure that the arts continue to grow and play an ever more significant part in the welfare and educational experiences of our citizens."
Gov. Robert E. McNair signing legislation creating the South Carolina Arts Commission, on June 7, 1967. Nick Zeigler, left, chaired the S. C. Inter-Agency Council on the Arts and Humanities, which conducted a study of the arts in preparation for launching the Arts Commission. Marvin Trapp, right, served as the Arts Commission's first chairman.
The South Carolina Arts Foundation paid tribute to the late Gov. Robert E. McNair during the Arts Commission's 40th anniversary celebration in May 2007 honoring his role in creating the agency. Former board members and others who shaped the agency's history participated in the celebration.
During the 2010 S.C. Arts Gala, held on May 6 at the Columbia Museum of Art, the S.C. Arts Foundation presented former S.C. Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley with the McNair Award for his leadership and dedication to the arts and arts education in S.C.