Current Recipients

2025 Recipients

Wade Sellers

Artist | Columbia

Headshot of Wade Sellers, a white male with wavy dark brown hair parted on his left side.Wade Sellers is an independent filmmaker in Columbia who produced his first film within months after graduating from USC in media arts. As the South Carolina Arts Commission’s first media intern, Sellers assisted with the Southeastern Media Institute where he later became an instructor. He became an in-demand lighting director and gaffer on commercials and corporate projects. His short film Gordon’s Ride was featured at the Independent Feature Film. Sellers co-founded the non-profit Hybrid Films in 2002 to function as fiscal agent for underserved filmmakers in the region. Hybrid Films’ largest accomplishment was the Beg and Grovel Film Festival, the first true independent film festival in Columbia. His first Southeastern Emmy Award nomination came with South Carolinians in World War 2, a project he was commissioned to direct for South Carolina ETV. Sellers formed his production company, Coal Powered Filmworks, collaborating with local filmmakers and promoting independent filmmaking in South Carolina. In 2013 he founded the 2nd Act Film Project, helping 84 films created by S.C. filmmakers solely for screening at 2nd Act. He has supervised more than 25 interns from USC and Benedict College since 2008, lectured and taught in the USC media arts department and was named a distinguished alumnus from the USC School of Visual Arts and Design in 2020. He has served as the board president for The Jasper Project since 2019.

Dr. Gail V. Barnes

Individual Category | Columbia

Headshot of Gail Barnes, a white female with medium dark hair.Dr. Gail Barnes is professor of music education and director of the USC String Project. She teaches courses in stringed instrument methods and orchestra literature and believes her greatest contribution to the state of South Carolina are the 150 teachers who have graduated from the program during her tenure. Barnes’s research interests revolve around community and school orchestra programs, with a particular focus on ensuring equitable access to music education for underserved youth. Her research has shed light on the positive impact of parental involvement and a supportive home environment on students’ musical development. Conferences across the United States and abroad benefit from her expertise and research findings, with insightful presentations in countries such as Australia, Italy, China, Greece, Scotland, and Brazil. Barnes is a co-author of Measures of Success for String Orchestra (published by The FJH Music Company), a method book for young string players. In her role as director of the USC String Project, Barnes continues to work with student-aged musicians. She has conducted all-state orchestras in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Michigan. Barnes earned her bachelor’s and master’s of music from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. from the Ohio State University.

Engaging Creative Minds

Arts in Education Category (Organization) | Charleston

Logo for Engaging Creative Minds, bubbly white lower case text that says "E.C.M. on a bright red background.Engaging Creative Minds (ECM) was established in 2012 as a private-public partnership resulting from a community planning process led by Charleston County School District (CCSD); the College of Charleston; the cities of Charleston, Mt. Pleasant, and North Charleston; the Charleston Regional Alliance for the Arts; the Youth Endowment for the Arts; and Crystal-Barkley Corporation. This collaboration sought to address educational challenges and equity gaps by integrating the arts into academic learning to better serve area youth and help them achieve the knowledge and skills outlined in the Profile of a South Carolina Graduate. In 2021, ECM merged with YEScarolina to expand its entrepreneurial programming and create a K-12 pipeline. ECM’s mission focuses on three key goals: engage students, build artist capacity, and empower educators. Since its inception, ECM has provided transformative arts integration programs during the school day, afterschool, and in summer camps, particularly in high-poverty communities. These efforts have reached thousands of students and educators across South Carolina, fostering creativity, engagement, and a sense of belonging. ECM collaborates with local artists, STEM professionals, and cultural organizations to ensure programming meets academic standards while inspiring innovation. By blending creativity, academic excellence, and workforce readiness, ECM has emerged as a pioneering model in education, equipping students and educators with the tools to succeed in school and life.

Koger Center for the Arts

Government Category | Columbia

Logo for the Koger Center for the Arts, University of South Carolina

The Koger Center for the Arts at the University of South Carolina supports exceptional art by hosting and presenting transformational experiences that enlighten, educate, entertain and inspire.  The Koger Center adds value to people’s lives by providing opportunities for creative programming, new experiences and education all while providing the best possible patron experience. From the opening on January 14, 1989, the University of South Carolina made it clear that local community needs would be addressed by establishing a mission of inclusion to support the programming and technical requirements of local arts organizations. Planned as a home to all the arts, the Koger Center houses a large permanent display of visual art as well as a revolving series of art exhibits in several gallery spaces. The 2,256 seat main auditorium is used regularly by local performing arts organizations, but also hosts large touring shows such as Broadway’s Wicked and Hamilton, the Philharmonic Orchestra of London and well-known artists like Alice Cooper and James Taylor. More than just a rental facility, the facility hosts seasons of performances by the USC School of Music, USC Department of Theatre and Dance and Koger Center Presents series and educational performances by local and touring companies. The Koger Center has expanded how the building is used turning the Grand Tier lobby into a 150-seat music venue, incorporating a permanent stage into the plaza in front of the facility and transforming the rehearsal hall into a Black Box Theater.

Sumter County Gallery of Art

Organization Category | Sumter

The Sumter County Gallery of Art is a non-profit, community-based institution formed in 1969, with a mission to present and promote diverse visual arts and artists, to increase knowledge, and to provide art education opportunities to Sumter, Clarendon and Lee counties—an extensively rural region of the state, isolated from the major art centers in the U.S. by geography and economics. During its fourth year in existence, the Sumter Artists Guild decided to establish a local gallery in which they could display their work as well as host exhibits from artists outside the community. After over a year of planning and fundraising, the Sumter Gallery of Art opened its doors on Jan. 5, 1970 in the Old Carnegie Library on Liberty Street. In the mid-1980s, Sumter County renovated a portion of the former Edmunds High School to a center for the performing arts, Patriot Hall, and it was suggested a wing adjacent to Patriot Hall be converted into a new home for SCGA. On Feb. 23, 2003, the Sumter County Gallery of Art opened its doors to the public in the newly-renovated 24,000 square-foot facility at the Sumter County Cultural Center. With three exhibit galleries downstairs and seven classrooms upstairs, the gallery offers Sumter and surrounding communities the finest in art exhibits and educational opportunities. We believe that contemporary and traditional visual art possesses the unique power to inspire, captivate, challenge and engage people of all backgrounds and ZIP codes.