About the S.C. Arts Directory

This is an extensive directory of artists, arts organizations, and teaching artists across many disciplines who work throughout South Carolina.

Serving to connect artists, organizations, arts therapists, schools, and communities, the S.C. Arts Directory allows users to find who they are looking for in multiple ways: by search, artistic discipline, or geographic availability.

• All members of the SCAD have a unique page with contact information, a photo, and a biography.
• Artists, arts organizations, and creative arts therapists are welcome to submit an application to become a member of the SCAD at any time throughout the year. Once a member of the arts directory, artists are also invited to submit an additional application to be recognized as an SCAC Verified Teaching Artist. This designation is intended for those who are primarily working with students within a classroom environment, please continue reading for more information about this designation.

Applying to the SCAD

1. Applications are managed through Submittable. In order to apply, you must create a free (or log in to an existing) Submittable account.
   • Applications are reviewed in batches monthly. If an application is submitted by the first Monday of the month, notification of acceptance or denial will be available by the end of the same month.
2. All members of the SCAD are required to successfully complete a State Law Enforcement Division (aka “SLED”) background check, provided by SCAC, annually. 
3. Please continue reading for information about the application process by applicant type.

• Application Process: For Artists

  Artists may apply for one arts discipline per application. Applications are reviewed by external panelists who are experts in the artist’s selected discipline. If an artist is skilled in more than one discipline they may submit multiple applications with work samples that show their proficiency for each discipline. This restriction allows SCAC to assign appropriate panelists who are competent in the selected discipline and are able to provide relevant and accurate feedback to the applicant. 

  An applicant will need the following materials in order to submit their SCAD application: 

  • Artist Bio – briefly details educational/professional development, background and career highlights
  • Artist Statement – distinctly shows how the artist’s work addresses specific themes/issues
  • Community Impact Statement – offers strong examples of how the artist’s work has impacted the community and illustrates consistently how their work supports equitable access to the arts
  • Resume – articulates extensive achievements and commitment to artistic core work 
  • Headshot 
  • Two letters of Support (must be signed and dated) – contains compelling information about the impact the artist has made through their work 
  • Current (last 3 years) Work Samples – reflects the artistic practice or medium of the artist  (i.e. if you are a performer, a video or audio file is preferable to a photograph of a performance).

  If an artist’s application is accepted they will be required to successfully complete a State Law Enforcement Division (aka “SLED”) background check, provided by SCAC, prior to being added to the directory. 

  Applicants should utilize the following evaluation rubric as a guide when writing their applications, panelists will score responses based on criteria within the rubric:

  • Artist Evaluation Rubric 

  Members of the SCAD are required to renew their membership every three years through an online application process. All members of the arts directory are also required to successfully complete a SLED background check every year in July. 

• Application Process: For Organizations

  Organizations may apply for one (1) arts discipline per application. Applications are reviewed by external panelists who are experts in the selected discipline. If an organization would like more than one discipline represented on their SCAD listing then they may submit multiple applications to speak to their commitment to artistic quality for each discipline selected. This restriction allows SCAC to assign appropriate panelists who are competent in the selected discipline and are able to provide relevant and accurate feedback to the applicant. 

  An organization will need the following materials in order to submit their SCAD application: 

  • Mission Statement – provides a clear understanding of what the organization does and its mission
  • Organizational Description – demonstes the organization’s value and purpose 
  • Overview of Services – outlines a brief overview of the organization’s artistic and educational services, programming and activities 
  • Community Engagement Information – describes how the organization brings people together to participate in the arts 
  • Community Impact Information – explains how the organization impacts the community and people it serves
  • Logo/Photo 

  All organizations listed on the directory are required to submit evidence to SCAC that each of their employees has successfully completed a State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) background check annually. 

  Organizations should utilize the following evaluation rubric as a guide when writing their applications, panelists will score responses based on criteria within the rubric:

  • Arts Organization Evaluation Rubric

• Application Process: For Creative Arts Therapists

  Creative arts therapists are human service professionals who use distinct arts-based methods and creative processes for the purpose of ameliorating disability and illness and optimizing health and wellness.

  Treatment outcomes include, for example, improving communication and expression, and increasing physical, emotional, cognitive and/or social functioning. Creative arts therapists are trained and credentialed according to their distinct profession and each creative arts therapy field is governed by a separate professional association with a unique scope of practice. (National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations, Inc.) 

  SCAC welcomes creative arts therapists across disciplines to apply to join the directory:

  • Art Therapy
  • Dance/Movement Therapy
  • Drama Therapy
  • Music Therapy 

  An applicant will need the following materials in order to submit their SCAD application:

  • Provide highest degree earned 
  • Provide relevant credentials – for example:  ATR- BC, LPC, LCAT..etc. 
  • Creative Art Therapist Bio – introduces who you are as a creative arts therapist as well as what types of therapeutic services you offer 
  • Overview of Creative Art Therapy Experience – outlines a reflection of your work as a creative arts therapist, including client demographics and methods and materials that you have experience working with 
  • Community Impact Statement – summarizes how your work seeks to impact the community around you
  • Headshot/Logo
  • Resume – articulates your experience in the field of creative arts therapies including educational background, professional development opportunities, internships, residencies, workshops, employment…etc.
  • Letter of Support – from individuals (i.e. clients, patrons, patterns, or community members) that can briefly attest to the quality and/or impact of your creative arts therapy work
  • Work Samples – should evidence your knowledge/experience within your field of creative art therapy (i.e. creative arts therapy directive/projects, outline for a creative arts therapy group you designed/facilitated, or samples of client work that has been created within an arts therapy context)

  If a creative arts therapist’s application is accepted they will be required to successfully complete a State Law Enforcement Division (aka “SLED”) background check, provided by SCAC, prior to being added to the directory. 

  Applicants should utilize the following evaluation rubric as a guide when writing their applications, panelists will score responses based on criteria within the rubric:

  • Creative Arts Therapist Evaluation Rubric

Additional Information

• Benefits of S.C. Arts Directory membership

  All members of the Arts Directory have a unique page with contact information, a photo and a biography. This page serves as a marketing tool to connect with schools and communities.

  Artists on the directory also benefit from:

  • Connectivity to other artists, arts organizations, and teaching artists
  • Prestige of a juried process
  • Access to online professional development offered by the SCAC
  • Exposure to schools and communities
  • SCAC Arts in Education grant recipients must use members of the members of the S.C. Arts Directory for grant-funded group lectures, demonstrations, performances, classroom residencies, and short-term arts teaching experiences.
  • State Law Enforcement Division (aka “SLED”) background check provided by SCAC

  Benefits of being an SCAC Verified Teaching Artist include: 

  • Enhanced SCAD listing with program offerings, including residency benefits and requirements
  • Connectivity to other artists, arts organizations, and teaching artists
  • Prestige of a juried process
  • Access to professional development specific to enhancing teaching artistry skills 
  • Exposure to schools and communities
  • SCAC Arts in Education grant recipients must use SCAD members for grant-funded group lectures, demonstrations, performances, classroom residencies, and short-term arts teaching experiences.

• Arts Disciplines

  • Craft – Work produced using traditional craft materials, including wood (woodworking and furniture making), glass (glassblowing and lampworking), clay (ceramics), textiles, and metal (metalworking). Studio craft works tend to either serve or allude to a functional or utilitarian purpose, although they are just as often handled and exhibited in ways similar to visual art objects.
  • Design Arts – Art forms that follow a system of highly developed procedures in order to imbue objects, performances, and experiences with significance. Like all art forms, design has the potential to solve problems, but there is no guarantee that it will. This can include architecture, fashion, graphic, industrial, or interior. 
  • Media Arts – All genres and forms that use electronic media, film, and technology (analog and digital; old and new) as an artistic medium. This includes projects presented via film, television, radio, audio, video, the Internet, interactive and mobile technologies, video games, immersive and multi-platform storytelling, and satellite streaming.
  • Public Art (ephemeral or permanent) – Art that expresses community values, enhances our environment, transforms a landscape, heightens our awareness, or questions our assumptions. Placed in public sites, this art is there for everyone, a form of collective community expression. Public art can include  murals, sculpture, memorials, community art, or performances/festivals. 
  • Creative Arts Therapy –  A licensed mental health field that uses different creative practices to help adults and children achieve developmental, behavioral, mental health, and physical health goals. This can include visual art therapy, music therapy, drama therapy, and dance/movement therapy.
  • Folk and Traditional Arts – Traditional arts are expressions of shared identity that are learned as a part of the cultural life of a particular group. This shared identity may be rooted in family, geographic, tribal, occupational, religious, ethnic, or other connections. As expressions of a living culture, traditional arts are generally handed down from one generation to the next and reflect the shared experience, aesthetics, and values of a group. Traditional arts are dynamic, reflecting change over time and individual innovation over generations of practitioners. South Carolina’s cultural landscape encompasses diverse artistic traditions and practitioners, including indigenous and longstanding art forms and communities, as well as those who are more recently arrived. Traditional arts can include quilting, embroidery, sewing, beading, weaving, pottery, basketmaking, woodcarving, folk music, dance or oral literature.

• Terms & Conditions

  • Qualification for membership on the SCAD is determined by a third party, discipline-specific panel and is rated based on a rubric.
  • The executive leadership of SCAC reserves the right to decline or remove membership for any applicant or current member of the SCAD in its sole discretion in accordance with the agency’s mission and values.
  • Membership term for the SCAD is three (3) years. All members will be required to renew membership after three (3) years and will be removed from the SCAD if renewal is not successfully completed.
  • Applicants must complete a separate application for each artistic discipline they wish to list on the SCAD. 
  • Applicants wishing to obtain teaching artist certification must first successfully complete the general SCAD application. A separate and additional certification application and panel process will follow.
  • Applications for the SCAD are received on a rolling basis and reviews take place during the first full week of each month (second full week of January 2024). It will take up to five (5) weeks before applicants are notified of their SCAD status.
  • Before an accepted applicant is published to the SCAD, they will be required to pass a State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) background check, as well as a National Sex Offender Registry check (paid for by SCAC). Additionally, all members of the SCAD will be required to pass these checks annually.
    • Members of the SCAD must notify the SCAC executive leadership within three (3) business days of any arrest that carries a penalty of more than $500 fine or one (1) year in jail.  The SCAC reserves the right to immediately remove the member from the SCAD pending a review and decision by the executive leadership of the SCAC.
  • Applicants must be 18 years of age or older at the time of application and may not be a degree-seeking student while on the SCAD.
  • All works, productions, and materials whatsoever created, produced or finished by SCAD members are the property of those individuals and not of the SCAC.

• Frequently Asked Questions

  How often does a member of the Arts Directory have to reapply?
  Arts Directory renewal and teaching artist reverification takes place every three (3) years, on a quarterly basis. Members who have not completed the renewal/recertification process by the end of their designated quarter will be removed from the Directory.

  Are all SCAC Verified Teaching Artists also members of the Arts Directory?
  Yes. Before receiving the application for the Teaching Artist Verification, one must be approved as a member of the Arts Directory. 

  Do I have to use a member of the Arts Directory for my S.C. Arts Commission funded project?
  SCAC Arts in Education grant recipients must use SCAD members for grant-funded group lectures, demonstrations, performances, classroom residencies, and short-term arts teaching experiences. Artists labeled as SCAC Verified Teaching Artist s on the Directory have been additionally vetted by the SCAC through the submission of sample lesson plans, recorded teaching samples, and letters of recommendation; we encourage but do not require grant-funded teaching artist residencies to employ SCAC Verified Teaching Artists.

  Do I have to use a member of the Arts Directory for my project that is not funded by the S.C. Arts Commission?
  Many school districts require that Arts Directory members are used for group lectures, demonstrations, and performances and SCAC Verified Teaching Artists are used for classroom residencies. Check with your district office about policies related to hiring artists, arts organizations, and teaching artists.

  How are applicants juried for the Arts Directory and Teaching Artist Certification?
  The initial staff review of applications focuses on eligibility, accuracy, completeness of submission, and confirmation of required support materials. Individual panelists (discipline specific experts in their field) review applications and determine membership/verification status using a specialized rubric. Final approval for the Arts Directory membership and Teaching Artist Verification is granted by the executive director or their designee.

  Do S.C. Department of Education grants require the use of Arts Directory members?
  It is not required, but you are strongly encouraged to use members of the Arts Directory or SCAC Verified Teaching Artists for S.C. Dept. of Education Arts Curricular Innovation grants, which include the Equitable Arts Advancement Program (EAAP) grant and the Distinguished Arts Programs (DAP) grant. Many school districts require that Arts Directory members are used for group lectures, demonstrations, and performances and SCAC Verified Teaching Artists are used for classroom residencies. Check with your district office about policies related to hiring artists, arts organizations, and teaching artists.

  Are Arts in Basic Curriculum (ABC) sites required to use the Arts Directory?
  SCAC Arts in Education grant recipients must use members of the S.C. Arts Directory for grant-funded group lectures, demonstrations, performances, classroom residencies, and short-term arts teaching experiences. To learn more about the ABC Institute, visit their website.

  Do I have to be a S.C. resident to be a member of the Arts Directory or a SCAC Verified Teaching Artist?
  No. Artists, arts organizations, and teaching artists outside of South Carolina may apply for both the Arts Directory and to become a Verified Teaching Artist.

  Does SCAC place SCAC Verified Teaching Artists in S.C. schools for residencies?
  No. SCAC does not place teaching artists in schools, however being listed on the SCAD as well as having the Teaching Artist Verification can serve as a marketing tool and will help schools find you when searching for an artist in residence. 

  Does the SCAC Teaching Artist Verification qualify me as a certified classroom teacher?
  No. Teacher certification is granted through the S.C. Department of Education, please view the SCDE website to see the pathways towards certification. The Teaching Artist Verification does not replace the S.C. Department of Education’s Program for Alternative Certification (PACE) for full-time arts classroom teachers.   

  Do I have to agree to a State Law Division Enforcement (aka “SLED”) background check to join the arts directory? 
  Yes. Every member of the arts directory must successfully complete a SLED background check if their application is accepted. Additionally, annually all members of the arts directory will be required to complete an updated SLED check. The reports will be paid for by SCAC. If a member refuses to provide their information so that a SLED check can be completed by the set deadline, their SCAD listing will be temporarily removed until the SLED check is complete.

I’m here to help!

For questions about the Arts Directory, and/or if you are a Directory artist needing to update your listing, please contact Arts Directory Coordinator Amanda Noyes (anoyes@arts.sc.gov | 803.734.8675).