Community Foundation of the Lowcountry

Women in Philanthropy Awards Grants

May 10, 2012 -- Hilton Head Island, SC - - Women in Philanthropy, a fund of the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, awarded nine grants in the areas of visual, performing and literary arts at its annual luncheon held on May 8, 2012.

Grants were awarded to:
LOUD, Inc. - $5,000
This grant to LOUD (Living Out Ur Dreams) is for an after-school program for children ages 10 to 13 be to held at the Hilton Head Island Boys and Girls Club. Grant monies will be used to outfit a professional-level recording studio where students will get hands-on experience with music, writing, recording and producing. The program is designed to help develop music appreciation as well as presentation and communication skills.

Arts Center of Coastal Carolina - $3,500
This grant will fund an extremely comprehensive project designed to enlighten 175 students about Japanese culture through a Japanese Art Festival. The School for Creative Arts 3rd graders will experience Haiku poetry, take part in Kabuki theater, learn Bunraku puppetry, print-making, Japanese calligraphy, origami and Japanese folk tales. The festival concludes with an exhibition of paintings and prints at the Arts Center.

Friends of Beaufort County Library - $2,890
This grant will be used to fund the 4th Annual Teen Film Festival, which invites teens (11-17) to participate. Costs include 3-day workshops in Bluffton and Beaufort, and includes rental of a theater in these areas. The workshop provides lessons about industry standards for creating storyboards, setting up shots, and editing. Teens will produce a 15-minute film that is edited and formatted on a DVD and is G or PG rated in language and subject matter. Prizes will then be awarded at the Film Festival for best picture, best directing, etc.

The Sandbox Children's Museum - $2,523
This popular museum already offers "Imagination Hour" story time for children. The aim of this grant is to incorporate an arts & crafts component into the program. For example, if the children read a story about Peter Rabbit, they could now actually make a rabbit out of cotton balls and decorations. Funds will be used to purchase Big Books and art supplies for this well-loved literacy program.

Beaufort County First Steps - $2,000
This grant will be used to help create an art activity package that trained Parent Educators can take to the homes of at-risk children. These packages are aimed to educate parents on projects that will help develop imagination, creativity and motor skills. Research shows that the way preschoolers are exposed to art has a direct effect on how children develop the left side of their brains, which makes them better suited to enter kindergarten or Head Start.

Coastal Discovery Museum - $1,572
This grant will fund Phase II of the Rainwater Harvester Project on the grounds of Hilton Head Middle School. Students will work with the staff of the Coastal Discovery Museum to learn about the impact of storm water runoff, study native SC butterflies, and then create and install a native butterfly garden. Monies will be used to acquire material, resources and plants for this environmentally-important project.

Memory Matters - $1,265
Art projects are an important part of daily activities at Memory Matters, where clients with dementia and Alzheimer's disease often use art as a form of self-expression and communication. Projects include self-portraiture and memory collages. Many individuals begin to come alive with a paintbrush and the ability to tell a story through their artwork. This grant will be used to purchase a costly circuit die-cutting machine and to replenish needed art supplies. An Art Expo is held each September to display everyone's art for family, friends and the community.

Art Works - $1,250
This grant goes to the Arts Council of Beaufort Co. to provide 50 partial scholarships for children from low-income families. Classes meet 1.5 hours each week and are designed to provide artistic and verbal skill building, as well as exploration of a variety of arts, including printmaking, jewelry making, drama, poetry reading, sculpture, weaving, and theater. Last year, Art Works reached 1,800 children and more than 8,900 community members and visitors.

Thumbs Up - $1,000
This grant will fund the "Arts Enrichment Program 2012", an after-school program for at-risk children. Plans include the purchase of tickets for two performances at the Beaufort Children's Theater (part of USCB); partnering with LOUD to write and create a poetry performance; workshops to help students create booklets of their work. This program is intended to bolster self-esteem and creativity, and to improve written and oral skills.

In addition, Women in Philanthropy elected board members and officers at the meeting, effective July 1, 2012.

They are:
Margaret Sanders, Chair; Mary Briggs, Vice-Chair; Sheila Armstrong, Jan Billingslea, Kaye Black, Juliann Foster, Hester Hodde, Judy Johnson, Margaret McManus and Barbara Pollard.


The Community Foundation of the Lowcountry created Women in Philanthropy in 2003 to highlight the vital role women play in our community. Women in Philanthropy, with a mission of inspiring and educating women to become philanthropic leaders in the Lowcountry, is dedicated to significantly increasing the opportunities for women to participate as philanthropists. There are more than 230 members.

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