Record-breaking $2.9M raised by Metropolitan Arts Council

Metropolitan Arts Council has surpassed its fundraising and earnings record again in 2022, the organization announced at its annual meeting on March 14 at the Peace Center.

MAC raised over $2.9 million, an increase of nearly $700,000 from its $2.26 annual earnings in 2021.

Photos: 2023 MAC Awards

“All of us at MAC are very pleased how the community has rallied around Greenville’s arts community with such an incredibly generous level of support, especially after the devastating aftermath of COVID,” said MAC Executive Director Alan Ethridge. “This response has resulted in MAC having its most financially successful year since its founding in 1973.”

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Among the highlights:

2022 Greenville Open Studios recorded 27,592 total visitors and $509,520 in total sales
142 artists participated in Flat Out Under Pressure, a 24-hour-long art creation event
TD Bank donated $400,000 to support the TD Center for Arts Integration
230 artists and 700 teachers trained through the SmartArts Education Institute

Additionally, the organization highlighted its various financial contributions to the Greenville County arts community in 2022, including:

Awarding $510,455 local arts organizations, individual artists and schools
Committing $10,000 to the Greenville County Museum of Art to purchase works by local artists for its permanent collection
61 grants totaling $142,792 to six schools, 10 artists and 45 organizations

MAC also provided $90,000 in additional funding to support partners such as:

Artisphere
Centre Stage
Greenville Chorale
Greenville County Museum of Art
Greenville Symphony Orchestra
Greenville Theatre
Peace Center
SC Children’s Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre

During its annual meeting, MAC presented a variety of awards to various individuals, businesses and organizations who have supported the arts community in the past year, including:

TD Bank Business and the Arts Partnership Awards

Osher Lifeling Learning Institute – Business with Less Than 100 Employees
Piedmont Natural Gas – Business with More Than 100 Employees
Keith Goodall – Put Your Heart in the Arts Volunteer of the Year Award

MAC Awards

Jess Stone – Carrie and Skip Gordon Teaching Artist Award
Cecily Witcher – Carrie and Skip Gordon Emerging Teaching Artist Award
Moody Black – SEW-Eurodrive Minority Teaching Artist Fellow
Signal Music Museum – Truman Henderson Award for Excellence in Grant Writing
Harry Culpepper Jr. – Carl R. Blair Educator Award
Jason Richards – Ann C. Sherard Young Supporter of the Arts Award
Betty Farr – MAC Lifelong Support of the Arts Award

While many of the awards had individual recipients, some of MAC’s honors were given to multiple individuals and organizations. The categories with multiple honorees include: