Harris Pastides, President of the University of South Carolina, will  recognize Brantley Harvey, Colden Battey, and Mayor Billy Keyserling and announce the results of their successful “Beaufort College Art Scholarship” campaign on the lawn of Beaufort College on Wednesday, September 28 at 3:30 p.m. Dr. Pastides will join University of South Carolina Beaufort Chancellor Upshaw and House Representatives Shannon Erickson and Ken Hodges to honor the donors of four-year scholarships that will be exclusively awarded to new students majoring in the Studio Art program on  USCB’s Historic Beaufort campus. In addition, Dr. Pastides will make an announcement regarding future support for the arts program on the campus.
In February 2011, Mayor Keyserling, and longtime state and regional leaders W. Brantley Harvey, Jr. and Colden Battey, challenged the Beaufort community to raise 25 scholarships to encourage talented art students to study the arts in Beaufort,  “one of the top 25 small towns for the arts” in the nation. According to Mayor Keyserling, “Partnering with community leaders to bring exceptional students to a baccalaureate degree that builds on one of our community’s greatest strengths is one of my top priorities as mayor.”
Under the leadership of Chancellor Jane T. Upshaw,  USCB has invested over $2.0 million in the Historic Beaufort campus in the past two years to support a strategic vision for that campus that encompasses the arts, the military and the environment.  “This campus vision builds on the Beaufort community’s strengths and USCB’s location on the waterfront in the historic district of downtown Beaufort.  Achieving this vision will require community support to attract students and faculty and to build exceptional facilities of the caliber that Beaufort deserves. We want to offer the opportunity to live, study and develop their creative talents in the beauty of the sea islands to students from across South Carolina.”
USCB’s Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art  was approved in January of 2009 and began in two new painting and drawing studios renovated with funds from the Heritage Golf Classic Foundation.  USCB built its first studios for ceramics and graphic design and significantly upgraded its print-making capabilities in its existing art studio.  A café for students and community members, “Outtakes,” opened in 2010.  In 2011, the library was remodeled.  As part of the larger vision for the campus, USCB purchased the former Bellamy Inn on Carteret Street as a location for its Sea Islands Institute.  USCB also purchased the Grace White house, an historic home on Carteret Street, which will open in the Fall of 2012 as the first student housing on the Historic Beaufort campus.
At the September 28 event,  Dr. Pastides will announce the total number and dollar value of the scholarships and will honor each donor.  He will announce a significant new opportunity for the USCB campus, a gift from another community leader. Community members interested in supporting the arts at USCB are invited to the announcement event, the reception following and to tour the new facilities.