Ask a local teacher. From curriculum-connected arts initiatives straight through to adult education, bolstering the arts for every Charlestonian gets high marks–at least that’s what the numbers indicate.
In Charleston, leading arts organizations, including the Charleston Gaillard Center and Gibbes Museum of Art, are lending their resources to education, making it an intrinsic component of their institutional mission–and one that is embraced by educators and arts devotees alike.
Gaillard glee
At any given student performance at the Charleston Gaillard Center, the luxe velvet theater seats in the Martha and John M. Rivers Performance Hall are turbo-charged with euphoric students, who gamely participate with the artists on stage–robustly interacting with premier dance companies like Dance Theatre of Harlem, or getting in on Gullah culture with Grammy-winning Ranky Tanky.
Since the Gaillard’s reopening a decade ago, education and community outreach has been an institutional priority. Throughout its 10 seasons, it has hosted more than 225,000 students from the tri-state area, welcoming more than 1,000 buses motoring in from more than 207 schools, including Title 1 schools, and offering 1,150 student workshops.
Sterling deVries, vice president of education and community outreach for the Charleston Gaillard Center, noted the popularity of the program with educators.
“On the day of our season release this year, 62 schools signed up in the first 30 minutes and by the end of the first day, we had 19,245 students registered for performances,” she told Charleston City Paper.
The 2026–2027 season features 13 educational shows, taking place from October to April, including What Do You Do With a Problem, Black Violin, Velveteen, Scenes from the Nutcracker, If Beale Street Could Talk, Science of Magic, Littlest Cove, Jazz Day, PULSE, Orchestra Moves, Kodo, Billy Goats Gruff, and Dance Theatre of Harlem.
The education focus was always the plan for the 2015 reopening of the center.
“We wanted to become the community’s largest classroom … where the community not only had a grand space where they could be a part of the arts, but a space where everyone felt welcome,” said deVries.
How the Gaillard differs from performing arts centers across the United States is to select content based on how it connects to South Carolina’s academic standards.
“Every performance we bring complements the state standards, supports the class, the classroom curriculum that the teachers are already teaching, so that the students can master those state academic standards, but also give them a lens and a clear view of the world of the arts and the endless possibilities of the arts,” she said.
At the Gaillard, it’s not just a single prong of a show that supports the curriculum, deVries noted, but also a show where every child has an opportunity throughout the season to see someone that looks like them on their stage and be inspired knowing that they too can explore the world of the arts.
The Gibbes gains ground
Then there is the Gibbes Museum of Art, which has been committed to arts education since its founding as the Carolina Art Association in 1858.
“Our intention from the start has been to educate through art, the creation of art, and access to art,” President and CEO Alex Rich told the Charleston City Paper. “From our beginnings, and especially once we moved into our present building and first permanent site in 1905, we have explored both the history of art and the processes underlying the production of art.”
Soon the museum will have a new space to further this mission. A dedicated Center for Education is set to open in April in the former offices for South Carolina Electric and Gas (and then Dominion Energy) at 141 Meeting St. It’s a game-changer for the Gibbes’s commitment to education to accommodate a broadened array of offerings, from early childhood learning to senior education. With its separate entrance directly off of Meeting Street, it allows for easy access for school buses and tour groups.
“We want to break down barriers to learning in the space of the museum, addressing audiences of all abilities no matter how they interact with us,” said Rich.
The current programming extends to learners of all ages, with particular standouts in its sold-out summer camps as well as new offerings like Tiny Tours, Drawn Together and First Look for Kids. General audiences can immerse themselves in programs including its lecture series, hands-on artmaking workshops and open-hours with visiting artists.
Last year, the Scrollathon initiative offered an opportunity to nearly 300 members of the community to contribute to a collective artwork made up of individually fabric scrolls, all inspired by the theme of America’s 250th, with the Gibbes representing South Carolina.
“That was perhaps the most joyful week I have witnessed personally in my time at the Gibbes, alongside the opening reception for our recent collaboration with HEART inclusive art community on an exhibition called Taking Up Space and featuring the work of artists with disabilities,” Rich said, demonstrating that the joy of learning has much to teach us all.
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