Arts Council hires an Outreach and Theater Director
The Arts Council of Beaufort County has announced the hiring of LaShanta Smith as its new Outreach and Theater Director to further develop class programming and community outreach. LaShanta comes to the Arts Council with a wealth of experience, having spent the last twenty years in education and the arts. In her experience program planning, recruiting, management, and curriculum development, LaShanta brings extensive skills to the Arts Council as they are in the process of expanding their class offerings and developing a long term strategic plan.
Dick Stewart, President of the Arts Council of Beaufort County said, “We are delighted to have LaShanta as part of our team. LaShanta brings artistic skills, teaching and mentoring experience and community ties to complement our mission. The Arts Council is in its third decade of making Arts more accessible and exciting. We will be announcing more classes and programs in the near future. LaShanta is the perfect person to participate in those exciting new initiatives.”
Although LaShanta claims Denver, CO as home, she says she fell in love with Beaufort, SC after a professor from her college insisted she take a trip to Beaufort during her undergraduate schooling. Upon arrival in Beaufort, SC, LaShanta was one of the first resident artists to be housed at the Arts Council of Beaufort County. Since then she has worked as a teacher in the Beaufort County School District, an admissions specialist at the Technical College of the Lowcountry, and has directed and performed for many art programs. Now, almost seven years later, she is rejoining the Arts Council, to continue its mission in expanding the presence of art in the daily experiences of residents and visitors.
LaShanta comments “Art brings so much meaning into my life and The Arts Council is that meeting place where engaging in the arts and collaboration happens. Several years ago, here at The Arts Council during an Arts Council Tellabration event, a student who I’d taught before approached me and said that art, and in his particular case, the spoken word courses I taught, had saved his life. I remember that moment vividly and those are the moments that motivate me to continue arts outreach in the community.”
Through the Arts Council’s long term strategic plan, there will be plenty new and exciting announcements made in the coming months. Laura Maxey, Managing Director for the Arts Council of Beaufort County comments, “This is a wonderful time for the Arts Council right now as we are hiring new people and implementing new programs. I am very excited with the direction we are heading and look forward to working with the team. This time next year, the Arts Council will look very different- in a good way, and we look forward to the roll out.”
For more information, contact the Arts Council at 843-379-2787.
