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S C H O O L N E W S Glenda Guion Retires After 25 Years Glenda Guion, Fine Arts Center Ceramics teacher for 25 years and Art Department Chair for 13 years, is retiring at the end of this school year. What she has meant to the school, to Greenville, the state, and to countless numbers of our visual arts students cannot be measured. She came to the Fine Arts Center in 1988 and, since that time, established herself as one of the leading ceramicists in the Southeast. She joins Jim Campbell, Drawing and Painting teacher, who retired last year after 34 years; Susan Willis, our 3-D Metals teacher who retired six years ago after 33 years; and Debbie Cooke, our Photography teacher, who retired two years ago after 14 years. Among them, they formed one of the finest visual arts faculties to be found at any level in this part of the country. Glenda’s first career began in a bank in Nashville, her hometown. Starting as a teller, she quickly moved to head teller and then branch manager. Obviously, she was good at it, but she found it unfulfilling and went back to school, receiving her BFA from Middle Tennessee State University in 1985. She continued her studies at Clemson, getting her MFA in 1987. In 1988 she replaced long-time Fine Arts Center Ceramics Teacher Bob Chance, who accepted a similar position in the art department at Furman. Once at The Fine Arts Center, her commitment to her art, her students and the school launched a career that saw her artwork featured in “Handbuilt Ceramics” by Kathy Tripplett (1997) and “500 Teapots” by Lark Books (2002). Her work with Fine Arts Center students for the Children’s Wing of Greenville Memorial Hospital was featured in “Pottery Making Illustrated Magazine” (2004), a publication of the American Ceramic Society. She served as instructor at the Greenville Museum of Art, Clemson University and USC Upstate. She worked as a studio assistant for Ellen Kochansky, lectured at Furman and Tri-County Technical College, and did ceramic workshops for 16 different Greenville County Schools. In 2002 Glenda was part of the original group of artists who began Greenville Open Studios, one of the most successful programs of its kind in the country, and served as its chairperson for five years. Ms. Guion’s work is included in numerous public collections, such as the South Carolina State Art Collection, the Pickens County Museum, Columbia College, Clemson University, Sumter County Museum of Art, Elliott Davis, LLC and Middle Tennessee State University. She has received 13 first place awards and has been exhibited in more than 120 regional shows, 19 national juried exhibitions and 12 solo exhibitions. Her clay work has been exhibited in venues such as Hickory Museum of Art in Hickory, N.C.; Galleria Mesa in Mesa, Ariz.; Danforth Gallery in Portland, Maine; The Holter Museum of Art in Helena, Mont.; Eastern Washington University in Spokane, Wash.; The University of Memphis in Memphis, Tenn.; Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah; Gallery of Artifacts and Treasures in Daytona Beach, Fla.; Capital University in Columbus, Ohio; and The Museum of Modern Art in Miami, Fla. The beautiful stainless steel John Acorn sculpture on the west side of our new building was obtained due to Glenda’s efforts. Roper Mountain Science Center, where Acorn’s sculpture could be seen as part of the Holiday Lights exhibit each December, wanted ceramic sculptures for its Japanese Butterfly Garden and traded the sculpture for the three beautiful pieces she and her students designed and executed. One of the highlights of her time at FAC was when she received a Surdna Foundation Grant (now the National Arts Teacher Foundation) to study Native American clay techniques in New Mexico with the Acoma Indians. That led to a curriculum unit that became a regular feature of her work and that of her students. It also led to a collection of 24 Native American pottery pieces that now forms one of the finest collections of its kind of any high school in the country. The collection, a gift of Joe Comin obtained with the help of Sharon Campbell and now on view at FAC, stands as a testament to Glenda’s career as an artist, teacher and colleague. Scores of students will attest to what she meant to them and how her unwavering belief in their talents led them to discover in themselves the excellence she knew was there. Her example and her love of the school and everything it stands for will impact what we do long into the future. Enjoy your time, your new home and your new studio, Glenda. You have more than earned it! 2 Glenda Guion, Fine Arts Ceramics Teacher for 25 years
Graduation Speaker Chip Egan Clifton “Chip” Egan is dean emeritus of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities at Clemson University. He received his BA in speech and theatre from Hanover College and his MFA in scenography from Northwestern University. Chip began his academic career at Clemson University in 1976, eventually serving as chair of the department of performing arts for nine years, during which time the Robert Howell Brooks Center for the Performing Arts was planned and constructed. He is a past president of the South Carolina Theatre Association and the Southeastern Theatre Conference and currently serves on the SETC Executive Committee. Chip is now a freelance director, actor and designer who works regularly at the Warehouse Theatre and Centre Stage in Greenville and at the South Carolina Repertory Company in Hilton Head Island. He and his wife of nearly 40 years, Diane, have two married children and four grandchildren. Recently, he was seen on the Warehouse Theatre stage as George in a production of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” staged by FAC Director Roy Fluhrer. This coming Warehouse season, the two will work together again in the Pulitzer Prize-winning “August: Osage County.” Refresh “Refresh” is the School District’s word for providing new computer hardware for our schools, and now it is our turn. This week we have begun to receive computers that will replace all of the computers in our building, a combination of PCs and Macs. With the increasing necessity of technology in our schools, we cannot afford to be behind the curve, so this initiative by the district is most appreciated. However, while the district picks up the check for $130,000 of computers, they do not cover the $33,000 needed for the software to drive them. Without the software, it’s as if we had a powerful sports car with no engine. We have applied for and hope to receive grant funds that will cover all of the software. In addition, the Fine Arts Center Partners organization has contributed to both of these initiatives, which has helped reduce our costs. You, too, can help by making a donation at www.FineArtsPartners.org. When the new year begins, your students will return to all-new technology and, given their imaginations, they’ll find new ways to express themselves and have something to teach the rest of us about the best way to use these educational tools. Explore the Arts S C H O O L N E W S Come join us for a summer arts extravaganza! Explore the Arts will be held at the Fine Arts Center June 17-21, from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Explore the Arts offers classes for rising elementary and middle school students in Painting on Canvas, Drama, Sculpture, Guitar, Drums and Shakers, Japanese Art, Creative Writing, Ballet, Drum Set and Snare Drum, and Cartooning. Also offered are high school and adult workshops in Printmaking, Digital Photography, Metals and Ballet. The cost to attend this exciting arts program is $125 for the elementary and middle school program and $150 for the high school, college and adult workshops. Some partial scholarships are available. Students who register for the ballet workshop receive a $25 discount. There are also opportunities available for high school and college students to volunteer to work with younger students and assist instructors. To find out more about the classes we offer or for more information, call 864-355-2574. To print a registration form, visit our website at www.fineartscenter.net/explore.html. You may also email Donna Shank-Major, the Explore the Arts coordinator, at dshank@greenville.k12.sc.us. Kadiatou Kante taught an African Dance Master Class to the dance and theatre students, with percussion students playing drums. Kadiatou was born in the village of Siguiri, Guinea, West Africa, and at age 7 she began her formal training under Master Artist Kemoko Sano, the Director of Les Ballets Africains. Kadiatou currently resides in New York City, where she teaches dance, conducts workshops and performs. Kadiatou Kante with Theatre, Dance and Percussion Students 3 Clifton “Chip” Egan
Page 1: Director’s Comments S P R I N G 2
Page 5 and 6: FAC Mural Downtown V I S U A L A R
Page 7 and 8: Annual Juried Spring Show Fine Arts
Page 9 and 10: D A N C E Dancers Jacqueline Calle,
Page 11 and 12: M U S I C Alumni News: Caroline Rob
Page 13 and 14: T H E A T E R The Theatre Departmen
Page 15: FAC PERFORMANCE AND SPECIAL EVENTS

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