CMA honors Mary Rainey Belser with John Richard Craft Leadership Award
November 8, 2016
The Columbia Museum of Art is proud to present the 2016 John Richard Craft Leadership Award to Mary Rainey Belser. Through her transformational gifts, board service, and dedication to the museum for over four decades, Belser epitomizes the philanthropic leadership the CMA recognizes each year with the Craft Award, named for its first director. Executive Director Karen Brosius and R. Scott McClelland, president of the museum’s board of trustees, presented the award, the highest honor the CMA bestows, at an elegant appreciation dinner celebrating Belser’s service on Tuesday, November 1, with nearly 170 museum supporters in attendance.
Photo: Board of Trustees President R. Scott McClelland, Mary Rainey Belser, and Executive Director Karen Brosius
“Mary Belser embodies all that the Craft Award represents,” says Brosius. “Her tireless efforts and philanthropic support are seen every day as the museum fulfills its mission to celebrate outstanding artistic creativity through dynamic exhibitions, award-winning arts education, and community enrichment for all.”
Belser’s community service began as a docent at the CMA, and she went on to serve three board terms between 1976 and 2012. She and husband Clinch have been Premier Society members for over 20 years and sponsored numerous galas and exhibitions, including the upcoming CUT! Costume and the Cinema. Belser is part of the Legacy Society and has been a major donor to the museum’s capital campaigns. Features of this museum reflect her contributions, from the Chihuly chandelier in the atrium to the Neoclassicism gallery named in honor of her parents, Callie and John Rainey.
“Mary has given countless hours of her time to the museum, but her greatest contribution is sharing her talents with the next generation of community volunteers,” says her daughter-in-law Maryanne Belser. “She has chosen at every season of her life to use those gifts to better the rest of us, our community, and the projects she believes in.”
An Anderson native and Converse College graduate, Belser is an active philanthropist and volunteer across her home state. She has led fundraising campaigns for Trinity Cathedral, the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, and Converse College and served on the boards of the SC State Museum, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, and SC Independent Colleges and Universities, among others. She and her husband have three children, Duncan, Freeman, and Callie.
“Not only is Mary a dear friend, but I’ve also had the privilege of serving with her on the CMA board,” says commission chair Carroll Heyward. “She is truly a ‘steel magnolia.’ She gets things done with grace and charm.”
