The arts are valued as fundamental to every student’s development.
We strive to ensure students in South Carolina have access to arts-rich educational opportunities as a core component of curriculum.
Every student has a right to the arts.
Students deserve an educational experience that is engaging and empowering.
Expertise is held within a community.
Excellence is achieved through continual reflection and growth.
The ABC Institute is cooperatively directed by the South Carolina Arts Commission, the South Carolina Department of Education and the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Winthrop University.
Strategic FrameworkThe South Carolina Arts Commission receives a $20,000 Arts in Schools Basic Education planning grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to develop the Arts in Basic Curriculum Project.
The Arts in Basic Curriculum Steering Committee publishes the ABC Plan, calling for comprehensive, substantive, and sequential arts education for all students.
The first round of ABC Model Site planning grants is offered by the S.C. Arts Commission. More than 30 schools and districts apply; 11 grants are awarded.
The S.C. Arts Commission awards the first round of ABC Model Site implementation grants to nine schools and school districts.
The first Curriculum Leadership Institute for the Arts (CLIA), designed to cultivate leaders among arts teachers, is presented at Lander University.
The S.C. Legislature passes the Education Accountability Act (EAA) with arts education language included, thanks to determined ABC Institute advocacy.
The ABC Institute was one of six arts education reform models from across the nation highlighted at the National Arts Education (AEP) Partnership meeting in Washington, D.C.
One hundred and six teachers, administrators from ABC Sites, community leaders and arts council members participate in the first Local Arts Education Advocacy workshop.
With support from arts education advocates, the S.C. Arts Commission secures a $1 million increase in grant funding from the S.C. General Assembly.
The ABC Institute and the S.C. Arts Commission convene the 2014 Arts Education Task Force to respond to new research and a new climate for education reform and to push arts education in S.C. to the next level.
With support from arts education advocates, the S.C. Arts Commission secures an additional $1 million increase in education funding from the S.C. General Assembly and the number of ABC Sites increases to 56.
ABC School Certification replaces ABC Sites and introduces the ABC Network for greater inclusivity and services as a state resource.
ABC is awarded a United State Department of Education Assistance in Art Education grant to support the Community Access to the Arts in Rural Education (CARE) Project.
After 35 years, ABC is not merely a project but an institution of leadership for countless educators. A first-of-its kind national model in 1987, the South Carolina Arts Commission’s partnership with the South Carolina Department of Education and Winthrop University is no project. It is an established collaboration that has sustained numerous challenges and continues to serve as an innovative model to assist student recovery from the unprecedented crisis of a pandemic.