Despite the pandemic, Metropolitan Arts Council (MAC) and the TD Center for Arts Integration’s SmartARTS program has continued to make an impact with children across Greenville.

When schools closed in March 2020 due to COVID-19, Greenville County First Steps and the CARES Act partnered with Greenville County Schools and dozens of local orgs (including the SmartARTS program) to provide full-time day camps for 9,000+ children of essential workers from Sept. 2020-Feb. 2021, engaging children with educational offerings and the arts while social connections were limited and students were at risk of falling behind.

Across 10 locations, SmartARTS local teaching artists filled in to help students combine their curriculum with various art forms, including dance, theatre, visual art, creative writing + music. These programs have helped foster valuable, transferable skills that can be used in and outside of the classroom.

Moody Black gets students excited about reading and writing at a CARES Act day program as part of SmartARTS | Photo provided by the Metropolitan Arts Council

Jeff Holland leads students at a socially-distanced SmartARTS session at CYM | Photo provided by the Metropolitan Arts Council

Cecilia Ho educates students about the wool industry as students engage in wet felting | Photo provided by the Metropolitan Arts Council

As schools return to full time instruction beginning in March 2021, the SmartARTS program will resume its regular arts integration residencies in 15 Greenville County Schools. Last year, the program served 11,000+ students living at or below the poverty line across 34 schools.

Watch the video of SmartARTS' impact during COVID-19.

See how the SmartARTS program continued to serve Greenville County students throughout the pandemic | Video via MAC

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