As our 2025 winds to a close, CEO Sara Grambach takes a moment to look back on where we've been, and look ahead to where we're going.
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This year, Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) celebrated its 10th anniversary. In August, we marked this milestone at our Art Bash x Annual Showcase, where we welcomed over 1,500 visitors in a single afternoon filled with art, food, music, and life. It was a true testament to the impact of this non-profit community arts organization and the overwhelming support of our mission. We mark this achievement as a true blessing.
However, this year was not without challenges. Growing and moving on, just as growing and moving in, is never easy, but it is a beautiful time to look at things anew and evolve with intention. Throughout the last year, staff have been inward-focused, evaluating the core elements of GCCA alongside the GCCA Board of Directors, stakeholders, and founders. These core elements include the Carrie Burns Brown Art School, our 26 artist studio spaces, our 3 free galleries, and our community programming. This rigorous evaluation has prompted necessary changes which will ensure sustainability so that GCCA may continue to meet and exceed its mission into the next 10 years. Supported by the guidance and wisdom of the GCCA Board of Directors, I have worked alongside staff and stakeholders to evaluate in-place systems, challenges, and opportunities. These holistic and respectful collaborations are what empower us to reach our goals. Support from our donors and community partners continue to fuel our mission. We are very grateful for this, as we cannot do this work without them.
There were many difficult conversations–learning what works for our mission and what can be improved upon–and a lot of eye-opening input on opportunities to grow in support of our artists and community. I am genuinely grateful to each person who engaged us in honest conversation and brought constructive feedback to the table. Through this dialogue, we identified areas for improvement and are poised to execute many of these ideas moving forward. While some growth will always be challenging, we acknowledge the necessity of difficult paths on the journey to improvement and affirm our support for each member of our community. Ambition does not preclude kindness, and we are committed to increasing arts access for all, even when that work feels hard.
With a firm basis strengthened by introspection, collaboration, and indeed, trial, this coming year will be an exciting one for GCCA. We plan to expand creative programming, diverse instruction, community care and engagement, and invigorating events. We have been intentionally structuring a GCCA which will thrive beyond expectation within the next decade. We look forward to showing our lifelong friends exactly what GCCA can become, and anticipate welcoming many new friends along the way.
Wishing everyone a healthy and happy holiday season. See you in the New Year.
Sara Grambach
Chief Executive Officer