A Natural State is funded by an Arts and Rural Community Assistance Project grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the US Forest Service. The purpose of these grants is to support arts-based rural community development projects that demonstrate:
- The arts as an economic development tool; e.g. tourism development, downtown revitalization, scenic byways, heritage areas, natural resource based cooperatives and nonprofit enterprises.
- The arts as a community development tool; e.g., use of the arts to address issues such as adult and youth education, leadership development, and civic entrepreneurship.
- The arts as part of a community's heritage; e.g.,community cultural planning, exhibitions, festivals that support civic stewardship for natural resources.
Development Team
Curriculum Specialist: Samantha Cofield
Editors: Mimi Wortham-Brown, Andrea Thorpe
Executive Producer: John Bane
Grant Writer, Concept: Betsy Newman
Graphic Illustrators: Joseph Byrne, Sam Glenn, Connie Robinette
Interns: Erin Colgan, Kyle Day, Kellen McFadden
Producer: Patrick Hayes
Programmers: Steven Anderson, Richard Baldwin, Tony Toich
Research/Materials Development: Connie Robinette, Samantha Cofield
Still Photography: Gaines Halford, Patrick Hayes, Connie Robinette, Urica Pope
Streaming Media Specialist: Ed Goodwin
Video Directors: Patrick Hayes, Urica Pope
Video Editors: Kyle Day, Patrick Hayes, Audrey Muck, Gerald Skipper
Videographer: Gaines Halford
Web Developer: Connie Robinette
Writers: Samantha Cofield, Patrick Hayes, Connie Robinette
Artists
Nancy Basket, Mildred Blue, Tom Boozer, Harriet Bailem Brown, Clay Burnette, Nola Campbell, Arianne King Comer, Jimmie Dinkins, Adesola Falade, Stephen Ferrell, Pearl Fryar, Evelyn George, Timothy Greene, Phillip Greene, Georgia Harris, Andrew Livengood, Shannon Livengood, Billie Anne McKellar, Marcelo Novo, Matthew Penn, Janet Orselli, Herb Parker, Leslie Pierce, Leslie Rech, Brian Rust, Gary Taylor, Nils-Udo, Peter Werner.
Collaborators (South Carolina)
Clemson
Ernie Denny Director, Clemson Sculpture Garden, Clemson University
Clemson University College of Agriculture Forestry and Life Sciences
Clemson University College of Architecture Arts and Humanities
Clemson University English Department
Columbia
Gwen W. Beavans, Education and Interpretive Specialist, USDA Forest
Stephanie Neal Johnson, Public Affairs Officer, USDA Forest Service
Tommy Charles, Archaeologist, University of South Carolina
Christopher Robinson, Graduate Assistant, McKissick Museum USC
Saddler Taylor, Director of Folklife Programs, McKissick Museum USC
South Carolina Geological Survey
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
Charleston
College of Charleston, School of the Arts, Sculpture Program
Johnsonville
Steve and Debra Lane, Ancient Cypress, LLC
Pickens
Allen Coleman, Director, Pickens County Museum of Art and History
Rock Hill
Becky Garris, Archives, Catawba Cultural Preservation Project
Winona Haire, Director, Catawba Cultural Preservation Project
Steve McKellar, Volunteer, Catawba Cultural Preservation Project
Sandra Reinhardt, Staff Archaeologist, Catawba Cultural Preservation Project
Earl Robbins, Volunteer, Catawba Cultural Preservation Project
Sumter
Heidi Adler, Ceramics/Art Teacher, Sumter High School
Booth Chilcutt, Cultural Director, City of Sumter
Charlie Holmes, Arboculturist, City of Sumter
Peggy Chilcutt, Artistic Director, Sumter Gallery of Art
Lynn Eldridge, Art Teacher, Chestnut Oaks Middle School, Sumter
Yonges Island
Martha and John Walters Too Goo Doo Tree Farm
