A dance festival, WWI posters and more money for the arts

S.C. Arts Commission awards $3.1 million in grants

The S.C. Arts Commission has given $3.1 million in grants to communities, schools, artists and arts organizations statewide.

The money will be used for the 2017 fiscal year, which began July 1, according to a news release. Of the 288 grants awarded in 37 counties, Richland and Lexington counties received $526,506.

Many of the grants will go toward arts education. A total of $1.5 million in grants will help fund curriculum planning and implementation, artist residencies, performances, professional development for teachers and summer and after-school arts programs.

“We are continuing our emphasis on arts education by expanding last year's pilot program to serve low income children through summer arts camps,” S.C. Arts Commission Executive Director Ken May said in the release. “We worked with local school districts, nonprofit partners and the State Department of Education to deliver a high quality arts program designed to combat summer learning loss."

OTHER ARTS EVENTS AROUND THE MIDLANDS

Conduct the Phil program to expand

The S.C. Philharmonic was on the receiving end of a sizable grant as well. The Central Carolina Community Foundation awarded the organization $40,000 as a way of saying “keep doing what you’re doing.”

The money will allow the S.C. Phil to expand its popular Conduct the Phil series. The pop-up professional orchestra that invites anyone to step up to the conductor’s podium will have new dates at the Babcock Center, Dorn VA Medical Center, Epworth Children’s Home, Transitions and the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice.

You also can catch it at the Irmo Okra Strut, S.C. State Fair, and the Soda City and Kershaw farmers markets.

‘American Victory Posters from the First World War’

The S.C. Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum will commemorate the centennial anniversary of World War I with a retrospective exhibit of American war posters this summer.

“Answering the Call: American Victory Posters from the First World War” explores how artists, publishers and government agencies employed patriotic rhetoric and familiar imagery to motivate patriotic behaviors and stimulate the wartime economy.

The exhibit is on display now through Dec. 30.

The museum is at 301 Gervais St. $6. www.crr.sc.gov

‘Conrack’

Before the late Pat Conroy became a celebrated author, he took a teaching position on remote Daufuskie Island. He wrote about his experience in the book “The Water is Wide,” which was adapted into the film “Conrack” (a nickname his students gave him).

Columbia Museum of Art will screen the film during First Thursdays on Main in conjunction with a viewing of the “Daufuskie Memories” photo exhibit by Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe.

6:30 p.m. Thursday at 1515 Main St. $5 for members; $7 for non-members. www.columbiamuseum.org

Columbia Dance and Improvisational Festival

Join the Columbia dance community and the The Power Company Collaborative for the Columbia Dance and Improvisation Festival. The three-day festival will have classes, jams, performances and discussions that support and stimulate dance and improvisation.

Aug. 5-7 in the Goldbold Gym & Fitness Center dance studios at Columbia College, 1301 Columbia College Drive. $12 per class/jam. Discounts and packages available. www.thepowercompanycollaborative.org