Sylva
Sylva, NC · Arts & Culture
The Post and Courier
The Post and Courier
hoodline.com
Greenville's New South Comedy Festival Returns With Comedians From Across the Country
Comedians from across the country are headed to downtown Greenville next month as Alchemy Comedy Theater prepares to host the New South Comedy Festival from Nov. 11-15. The event will take over Coffee Underground at 1 E. Coffee St., mixing stand-up, sketch and improv comedy over five days. According to...
The State
Graves of enslaved people in SC's oldest cemetery were unmarked for years. No more
South Carolina’s oldest municipal cemetery has long had a section where it was suspected people were buried, but no one knew for sure where the graves were. It’s Section V of Springwood Cemetery , located in downtown Greenville, that was used as a potter’s field for African Americans, some believed to have been enslaved, and indigent whites. Researchers believe there are some 2,000 unmarked graves. A project spearheaded by the Upstate Cemetery Preservation Alliance of South Carolina recently found 572 of them. Founding member of the organization Debbie Weeks contributed $3,000 to pay for ground penetrating radar to study the area. Omega Mapping of Forston, Georgia, which also does underground utilities, marked the graves they found with flags. This week, Jason Forister, owner of Nat Greene Landscape Co . in Greenville donated the labor to install discs to mark each grave. “Driven by compassion and a commitment to honoring every life—recognizing that each person was once someone’s child—Ms. Weeks saw the necessity of conducting the radar study to accurately determine the number of graves in this section,” a city press release said announcing the findings. “This is a project that is very dear to our hearts,” Weeks said. “Section V
hoodline.com
1835 Bates House Near Greer Saved From Development, Future Park Possible
The circa-1835 Bates House and its nearly 11 surrounding acres off S.C. Highway 14 south of Greer are now permanently protected, the result of a conservation deal years in the making that brought together county officials, a state conservation fund, a private preservation group and the family that had owned the land for generations. Partners gathered Tuesday at the property, located at 3141 S.C. Highway 14 near the Pelham/Batesville Road intersection, to formally celebrate the preservation of the historic home and its grounds.
The Post and Courier
Denied SC grant for work concerned with ICE impact on community, Latina artist finds other support
COLUMBIA — An artist whose work was rejected by the S.C. Arts Commission for perceived political ideology is getting support from another source. On Oct. 15, after calling Greenville’s Shakira Olivera-Bautista’s artworks “political” and “scary,” commission board members voted to deny the Latina artist $1,800 in grant funds intended for emerging artists. The board’s decision drew fire from arts advocates and organizations, who had already accused the commission of exhibiting prejudice in denying funding to two LGBTQ arts organizations on Oct. 1. One week later, Palmetto Luna Arts, a nonprofit i...
The State
The ‘recognition' that wasn't free: How SC charter school paid for a flattering TV profile
In early 2025, GREEN Charter Schools filmed an episode of Empowered , a public television program hosted by the actress Meg Ryan. The documentary-style program, which highlights “the most critical stories that affect the way consumers live across the planet,” produced a five-minute feature on the Greenville-based charter chain to air on public television stations across the country. The segment , bookended by the “ Sleepless in Seattle ” star, portrays the renewable energy-focused network of schools as an example of educational innovation where “every student is empowered to pursue their dreams and equipped to impact the world for the better.” “This was nothing GREEN sought,” then-executive director Tom Cronin told board members before playing the video at a May 2025 meeting. “This was something that sought us. We were somehow noted as one of 17 finalists for the Empowered recognition.” What Cronin did not mention — or perhaps even recognize — was that GREEN’s Empowered honor was manufactured. The show is what PBS calls a “pay-for-play production.” The taxpayer-funded charter network paid more than $30,000 to Summit Studios, LLC , the production company behind Empowered, to create the video, invoices obtained by The State Media Co. show. In exchange
thewoodrufftimes.com
Tiffany McCree Turns Her Story of Domestic Violence Into a Testimony of Faith, Healing and Hope
Behind a smile, a helping hand and the image of a woman who always seemed strong enough to carry the weight of others, Tiffany L. McCree was fighting a battle of her own. For years, McCree carried the emotional and physical pain of domestic violence while striving to raise her three children and hold her family together. Now, the Woodruff native is using her voice to encourage others who may be suffering in silence through her newly released book, For All The Wrong Reasons: A True Story of Love, Abuse, Survival and God’s Unfailing Grace.
greenville.com
bjubruins.com
Waller Makes History as Bruins Compete at Nationals
DJ Waller made history at the NCCAA National Championships in Palm Coast, Florida, becoming the first individual national champion in Bob Jones University golf program history as the Bruins secured a seventh-place finish among nine teams. For the sixth time in seven years, the BJU Bruins made an appearance at...