Charleston Gaillard Center Releases Raising the Volume Lesson Plans

FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 MEDIA CONTACTS: Kellie Lawson Director of Marketing klawson@gaillardcenter.org 843-242-3105

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Charleston Gaillard Center Releases Lesson Plans for Raising the Volume Episodes I-III

December 2​, 2020 – Charleston, SC – On October 28, 2020, the C ​ harleston Gaillard Center ​released the first three episodes of ​Raising the Volume​. Featuring conversations on music, race, art, activism, and more, the series is curated by Artists-in-Residence, M ​ arcus Amaker ​and C ​ harlton Singleton​. In Raising the Volume, Charleston’s Poet Laureate Amaker and Grammy Award winner Singleton explore issues through open, honest dialogue. The series begins with Amaker and Singleton examining their own experiences with racism as artists. Each subsequent conversation is led by either Amaker or Singleton having in-depth conversations with local Black leaders, educators, business owners, and artists.

Each video will also be accompanied by a lesson plan for both middle and high school students. The Gaillard Center’s on-staff educator, S ​ terling deVries​, will facilitate cross-school virtual meetings for students in different areas to discuss the content of the interviews. The first three lesson plans are now available at gaillardcenter.org.​ ​Watch the episodes and download the plans here.​ All lesson plans are available for f​ ree​ as part of the Gaillard Center’s Education and Community Program.

The lesson plans will highlight the following interdisciplinary themes: global awareness; civic literacy; working creatively with others. Students will explore additional resources such as Marcus Amaker’s poetry, John Coltrane’s “Alabama,” and programs such as the Charleston Area Justice Ministry and the YWCA’s Racial Equity Institute.

Available to view now: Episode I - A conversation on music, racism, art, activism, and more with Marcus Amaker ​& ​Charlton Singleton​.

Episode II - A conversation on Charleston activism, past and present with former Municipal Court Judge for the City of Charleston for 33 years, J​ udge Arthur McFarland​.

Episode III - A conversation on awareness and action with the Executive Director of YWCA, L ​ aVanda Brown.

Additional episodes and lesson plans will be released in Winter 2021: Dr. Thaddeus J. Bell​, Founder of Closing the Gap in Healthcare Dr. Karen Chandler​, Director of the Graduate Certificate in Arts and Cultural Management at the College of Charleston Andrea Davis​, Founder and Owner of Motherland Essentials Herb Frazier​, Charleston-based author Dr. Kylon Jerome Middleton​, Senior Pastor at Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church Funding for this program is provided in part by B ​ lueCross BlueShield of South Carolina​ and ​Charleston Water System.

ABOUT STERLING DEVRIES Sterling deVries, the Director of Education at the Charleston Gaillard Center is dedicated to supporting the educational community through the arts. Following fifteen years as a classroom teacher, deVries builds on the knowledge that arts are an integral part of classroom content. Her Master’s degree in Arts in Education changed her approach to teaching and resulted in a student-centered, arts-enhanced method of content mastery.

ABOUT MARCUS AMAKER Marcus Amaker was named Charleston, SC’s first Poet Laureate in 2016. He’s also the award-winning graphic designer of a national music journal, an accomplished electronic musician, and a mentor to hundreds of students.

His poetry has been presented by The Kennedy Center, and has appeared in Departures magazine, Chicago Tribune, ​PBS Newshour, and several other publications. In 2019, he won a Governor’s Arts award in South Carolina.

His poetry has been studied in classrooms and has been interpreted for ballet, jazz, modern dance, opera and theater. Marcus has recorded three albums with Grammy Award winning drummer and producer Quentin E. Baxter of Ranky Tanky.

His latest book is ​The Birth of All Things​, from Free Verse Press. He’s currently the Gaillard Center’s artist-in-residence.

MUSIC ​tapeloop.bandcamp.com NEW BOOK, VINYL AND MORE n ​ ewpoetrybook.com WEBSITE m ​ arcusamaker.com ABOUT CHARLTON SINGLETON A native of Awendaw, SC, Charlton Singleton began his musical studies at the age of three on the piano. He would then go on to study the organ, violin, cello, and the trumpet throughout elementary, middle and high school. In 1994, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from South Carolina State University. Since that time, he has taught music at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, as well as being an adjunct faculty member at the College of Charleston. In 2008 he co-founded and became the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Charleston Jazz Orchestra; an 18 piece jazz ensemble of some of the finest professional musicians in the Southeast and the resident big band in Charleston, SC. Mr. Singleton is also the organist and choir director at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Charleston, SC. In November of 2016 he was named the inaugural Artist in Residence at the recently renovated Gaillard Center in downtown Charleston. He remained in this position until July 2019; at that point he was named Artist in Residence Emeritus. In this position he continues to lead the Summer Youth Jazz Orchestra Camp as well as lead the “Jazz Through the Ages” assembly, which attracts a capacity crowd of students at the Gaillard Center.

As a performer, Charlton leads his own ensembles that vary in size and style. He has performed in France, Great Britain, Scotland, Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Canada, The Netherlands, as well as many great cities throughout the United States. He is a founding member of a new ensemble called Ranky Tanky. The group is a quintet that interprets the sounds of Gullah from the Southeast Coast of the United States. In 2017 Ranky Tanky reached the top of the Billboard, iTunes, and Amazon Contemporary Jazz charts with their self-titled debut

recording. In 2019 they accomplished the same feat with the release of their sophomore effort, “Good Time”, which recently won the 2020 Grammy Award for “Best Regional Roots Music Album”.

In addition to performing, he is in demand as a speaker, clinician, composer, and arranger. He has also shared the stage with and/or worked with some of most talented entertainers in the world, including Bobby McFerrin, Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, Houston Person, Darius Rucker, Fred Wesley, and Cyrus Chestnut to name a few. Outside of music and entertainment, he and his wife, MaryJo, are the proud parents of Shalamar and D’Marcus, as well as their pets...Sassy, Jango, Mojo, Kota Bear, Pumpkin, and Ginger.

WEBSITE​ ​charltonsingleton.com INSTAGRAM​ ​@csmusician FACEBOOK​ ​@charltonpsingleton ABOUT JUDGE ARTHUR C. MCFARLAND Judge Arthur C. McFarland i​ s a native of Charleston’s Eastside community. He is the seventh child of the late Thomasina Jenkins McFarland and Joe McFarland. His mother encouraged all her children to become community activists like her and his oldest brother Joe McFarland. He attended Immaculate Conception grade and high school. As a teenager, he participated in the 1963 civil rights sit-ins and demonstrations in Charleston and attended the March on Washington. In 1964, he was one of nine African American students to desegregate Bishop England High School. Upon graduation from Bishop England, he entered the University of Notre Dame where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government. At Notre Dame, he became the first president of the Afro-American Society. In 1973, he received his Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Virginia Law School. Following graduation from Virginia, he worked as an Earl Warren Fellow with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in New York receiving training in civil rights litigation. In 1974, he opened his law practice in Charleston. He is admitted to practice before the State, Federal and U.S. Supreme Courts.

In 1976, Judge McFarland was appointed Associate Judge of the Charleston Municipal Court. In 1978, he was appointed Chief Municipal Judge and held that post until his retirement in 2009. During the past 46 years, he has been a practicing attorney in Charleston handling school desegregation and employment rights as well as heirs’ property and other civil cases.

In addition to his professional work, Judge McFarland has held positions in numerous local and national organizations. He has just completed service as co-President of the Charleston Area Justice Ministry (CAJM) which is comprised of 35 congregations and organizations in the Charleston area engaged in social justice work. For six years he served as Supreme Knight and CEO of the Knights of Peter Claver, Inc., the largest African American Catholic lay organization in the nation, overseeing over 1000 units in 32 states, the District of Columbia and Colombia, South America. He serves as National President of the Gadsden Family Reunion (his mother’s side of the family). He previously served on the boards of the MUSC Foundation, Daniel Joseph Jenkins Institute for Children, and the College of Charleston Foundation; President of several organizations including the the Charleston Business and Professional Association, Charleston County Human Services Commission (now Palmetto CAP), Robert Shaw Boys and Girls Club and Gamma Lambda Boule-Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity.

Judge McFarland is listed in the Who’s Who in Black America. He has been featured in the C ​ ongressional Record ​and​ Ebony ​and has been referenced in numerous articles and books.​ ​He has appeared on ABC’s N ​ ightline, ​South Carolina ETV and numerous radio and television programs, locally and in other States​. ​He​ ​has been a frequent speaker at churches, schools, legal and civic gatherings. He has received numerous awards and honors for his community service, locally and nationally. In 2007, he was inducted into the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame.

Judge McFarland is married to Dr. Elise Davis-McFarland. They have two children, Kira J. McFarland and William J. McFarland and two grandchildren, William J. McFarland, Jr. and Lara Elise McFarland. He is an active member of St. Patrick Catholic Church.

ABOUT LAVANDA BROWN LaVanda Brown joined YWCA Greater Charleston as executive director in February 2016, bringing more than 20 years of experience, leadership, and a passion for serving to the organization.

During her decades of on-the-ground experience in social services focused on underserved populations, she has led and advised multiple nonprofit and for-profit organizations, including Family Promise of Greater Savannah, Union Mission, Greenbriar Children’s Center, Gang Alternatives of Miami, Clarke Community Services in New Orleans, and others in the behavioral health, employment, and community services arenas.

A passionate advocate for causes including gender equality, diversity, and racial equity, and a strong ally of under-resourced teens and homeless populations, she envisions a world where differences are not just tolerated but celebrated. "The mission of the YWCA is one that is very much in line with my personal mission of empowering women and celebrating differences," she says.

During her career, LaVanda has developed strategic plans resulting in more positive community interventions, created a homeless case management system, developed a life skills curriculum, designed an after-care program to help the homeless transition to independence, and instituted permanent supportive housing for homeless adults and families.

Her work has garnered awards including the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Best Practices Award for Transitional Housing and Case Management, and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Magnolia Award for Excellence in Housing. She was also the 2018 recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Picture Award for outstanding community service, presented by Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg and South Carolina Rep. Wendell Gilliard.

LaVanda currently also serves as the housing subcommittee chair for the Mayor’s Commission on Homelessness and Affordable Housing, and serves on the board of Enough Pie, an organization dedicated to improving Charleston’s upper peninsula.

She holds a dual bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology from Wesleyan College and a master's degree in counseling from Georgia Southern University.

ABOUT THE CHARLESTON GAILLARD CENTER: The Charleston Gaillard Center is a 501c3 nonprofit performing arts organization in Charleston, South Carolina, committed to enriching lives through unforgettable experiences. Throughout the year, we provide exceptional programming and vibrant educational opportunities for the community.

Please consider a contribution as we continue to find innovative ways to connect, inspire and entertain.​ ​Donate to support the arts in your community.​ ​You can learn more about our educational resources and programming at gaillardcenter.org​.

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