S.C. Arts Awards

A joint presentation of the S.C. Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award

  • Recipients from their respective categories are recognized for outstanding achievement and contributions to the arts in South Carolina with the South Carolina Governor’s Awards for the Arts.

  • Up to four artists and one advocate are recognized with the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award as practitioners and advocates of traditional arts significant to communities throughout the state. Their traditions embody folklife’s dynamic, multigenerational nature, and its fusion of artistic and utilitarian ideals.

2025 Broadcast • Sunday, May 18, 7 p.m. EDT

Honoring distinct and deserving recipients of the 2025 South Carolina Arts Awards

Governor’s Awards for the Arts

  • Wade Sellers, Columbia (Artist category).
  • Gail V. Barnes, Columbia (Individual category).
  • Engaging Creative Minds, Charleston (Arts in Education category).
  • Koger Center for the Arts, Columbia (Government category).
  • Sumter County Gallery of Art, Sumter (Organization category).

Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award

  • Mary “Caroleen” Sanders, Catawba Indian Reservation, Rock Hill (Artist category, Catawba pottery; posthumous).
  • Watch the streaming presentation via one of two SCAC channels:

    While you can watch on a device or laptop/desktop computer, smart TV’s connected to the internet (with the YouTube app or browser) or sets connected to a streaming player (e.g., Roku or AppleTV, with the YouTube app or browser) will give you a full-screen, broadcast-style experience.

    Unable to join live?

    The virtual presentation will be available for on-demand viewing on the S.C. Arts Commission YouTube Channel after the live presentation.

I’m here to help!

For additional information, please contact Communications Director Jason Rapp (803.734.8899 | jrapp@arts.sc.gov).