The Fine Arts Center of Greenville County

The Fine Arts Center of Greenville County was established in 1974 for students gifted in the literary, visual and performing arts. The first specialized arts school established in South Carolina, Greenville's Fine Arts Center offers instruction in dance, theatre, creative writing, music and music engineering, jazz guitar, video, digital editing, photography, metals, painting and more. In this video, Fine Arts Center Director Roy Fluhrer leads a tour of the new Fine Arts Center located on Pine Knoll Drive next to Wade Hampton High School. Viewers will see the Center's 2,800-square-foot dance studio, visit photography, video and jazz guitar classrooms, and see The Fine Arts Center Gallery where 50 entries of the National High School Metals Show are on display. The show features a range of styles and metal smith forms, from impeccably crafted goblets to whimsical brooches to small-scale vessels and sculpture. Entries were mailed from students across the country. The work was juried in person by visiting metal smiths Nathan Dube and Corey Ackelmire, who spent three days at the Fine Art Center lecturing and demonstrating techniques. Students audition to attend the Fine Arts Center and are selected on the basis of talent, interest, motivation, and commitment to their discipline. Students attend the Fine Arts Center five days a week in the morning or afternoon for 110 minutes of instruction, spending the remainder of their time in other academic work at the home high school. Each year, approximately 400 students attend the Fine Arts Center, and, of that number, about 90 percent go on to higher education.