Supporting our Community
Over the years, you have hopefully attended an event or show hosted inside the Chapman Cultural Center theater. Or maybe you have visited one of the independent museums, galleries, or cultural organizations located inside the facility. However, Chapman Cultural Center is more than an entertainment destination. Our organization's mission serves a much broader scope as the "cog" that moves Spartanburg County's arts and cultural sector forward.
As the county's leading Local Arts Agency, we serve as an advocate for the arts to ensure they are relevant and supported in the public and private sector.
A large part of our impact comes from our grantmaking, which awards more than $300,000 in annual General Operating Support grants to arts and science-based non-profit organizations. Our GOS Grants are funded through the Chapman Cultural Center United Arts Annual Fund and support the following organizations and their missions.
Through the years, Artists' Guild has grown from a handful of artists to one of the original partners of the Chapman Cultural Center, located in downtown Spartanburg. Their gallery is currently housed in the Chapman Cultural Center and features 12 shows throughout the year, which highlight the talents of local artists of all ages and backgrounds. In following with their mission to cultivate, nurture, and grow the visual arts in our community by supporting local artists and education, the Artists' Guild host an annual juried show for students in March to provide supplies for local art teachers and students through the angel tree program, and facilitate smaller shows at venues throughout the county for local artists. They also support local artists by providing thousands of dollars in prize money each year to the winning submissions in our adult and youth juried shows.
Learn more about Artists' Guild Spartanburg at artistsguildspartanburg.org
Ballet Spartanburg is funded in part by Chapman Cultural Center, its donors, the County and City of Spartanburg, and the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the arts and the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of the Coastal Community Foundation of SC. The Company, the only resident professional Company in the Upstate, performs in professional events which currently reach over 27,235 individuals and their impact is growing each year. The organization has created one of the most successful Arts in Education programs, providing the highest quality of dance instruction, reaching over 1,500 individuals each year.
Learn more about Ballet Spartanburg at balletspartanburg.org
Spartanburg Art Museum is a regional museum promoting contemporary visual arts by inspiring and engaging people of all ages through exhibitions and education. Under the leadership of Elizabeth Goddard, SAM shifted its mission to reflect the original ideal of exhibiting the art of the current era, supporting living and working contemporary artists. SAM's exhibition boasts a diverse range of contemporary exhibitions and offers a wide variety of educational and community programs for all ages and demographics.
Learn more about Spartanburg Art Museum at spartanburgartmuseum.org
The Spartanburg Little Theatre is a performing arts nonprofit organization that hosts an incredibly diverse production schedule that features classic and contemporary favorites for adults, appealing to the widest range of ages and demographics possible. All of our performers and production staff are local artists, theatre professionals, and volunteers. The SLT fulfills its mission to "activate, cultivate and educate our community through quality theatrical experiences" with the charitable support of generous friends and donors.
The organization also includes innovative children's programming in the Spartanburg Youth Theatre that enriches the lives of upstate youth and families through high-quality "by youth, for youth" theatrical productions, innovative educational programming, and community outreach to engage and inspire the child in all of us. The cast and backstage crew are made up entirely of youth in the 3rd-12th grade who not only learn valuable tools to become better performers and artists, but also the immeasurable power of teamwork and self-expression!
Learn more about Spartanburg Little Theatre at spartanburglittletheatre.com and Spartanburg Youth Theatre at spartanburgyouththeatre.com
Recognized as a pillar of creativity, inspiration, and entertainment, the Spartanburg Philharmonic is a 65-member modern orchestra that is almost a century old. Spartanburg Philharmonic is a jewel in the crown of South Carolina's arts scene, presenting popular masterworks, contemporary pieces, chamber music, bluegrass, and rarely performed works. Their concerts attract music lovers throughout the Greater Spartanburg area and from around the region to their performances held in Twitchell Auditorium in Zimmerli Performance Center at Converse College and at the Chapman Cultural Center's Theater.
Learn more about Spartanburg Philharmonic at spartanburgphilharmonic.org
The John F. Green Spartanburg Science Center provides science education and enrichment for the students and adults of Spartanburg County through interactive educational programs, hands-on exhibits, and community outreach. Our small, hands-on science center offers guests of all ages more than 23 exhibits, a live animal room featuring an assortment of reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and a museum room with a collection of fossils, bones, skulls, rocks, minerals, and other educational displays. The Spartanburg Science Center inspires excitement for science through interactive exhibits, live animals and programs that excite, engage, and educate.
Learn more about the Spartanburg Science Center at spartanburgsciencecenter.org