Enjoy SC offers An Encore: Final set of events to engage at the State House – May 23 and 26

The City of Columbia, in collaboration with several community organizations, is using a Knight Cities Challenge grant to host “Enjoy SC: An Experience of South Carolina Arts & Culture at the State House.” This series of interactive, free events, taking place in April and May of 2018, is designed to attract community members to meet, linger and socialize on the State House grounds in the heart of downtown Columbia.

Enjoy SC’s events so far, Make Music, Share Tea, Make Poetry, Make Connections, Make History and Make Art, have given members of the public, including families, tourists, legislators, business people, students and more the chance to listen to music and even interact with organizations like One Columbia, the South Carolina Philharmonic, EdVenture, the Carolina Gentlemen and Girls Rock Columbia. Enjoy SC also brings café tables and chairs, picnic tables and chaise lounges to the State House grounds and members of the public enjoy resting, chatting and having lunch at these seating options. Though Enjoy SC will have more concrete data available soon, preliminarily, members of the public gathered and engaged in the space, which meets the goals of Enjoy SC. Photos from the first events available, here.

“As a hub for our city and our state, the State House grounds are an ideal place for us to gather, meet friends and see firsthand the talent that many of our arts and culture organizations in town and statewide offer,” said Columbia’s Mayor Steve Benjamin. “It’s also a chance to meet other people, and for tourists to see that Columbia and South Carolina are progressive and welcoming.”

Week Eight of Enjoy SC will feature An Encore of notable Enjoy SC programming.

• An Encore: Weds., May 23 (11:30 – 1:30 p.m.) and Sat., May 26 (12:30 – 2:30 p.m.)
• Organizers of Enjoy SC will bring back some of the program’s most engaging arts organizations and performers for one last series of events designed to encourage the public to gather and linger on the State House grounds. Several musicians will perform around the grounds on Weds., May 23. And on Saturday, May 26, Soda City’s Saturday market will move up Main to the 1200 block so that attendees can simply cross Gervais Street and Conduct the Phil with Enjoy SC. At both events, Enjoy SC’s cafe tables and chairs, picnic tables, lounge chairs and kid-friendly seating will be available for attendees to enjoy.

Each Enjoy SC event will take place twice in one week. The scheduling is designed to attract downtown workers on their lunch breaks as well as those visiting the State House during the week. Enjoy SC anticipates that weekend events will attract those attending Soda City’s Saturday market, families, tourists and more. Organizers of Enjoy SC will also quantify attendance and engagement at each event to learn more about how the public best interacts with the public space at the State House grounds.

The City of Columbia’s planning office invited organizations like One Columbia for Arts & History, City Center Partnership, Columbia Children’s Theater, Girls Rock Columbia, Historic Columbia, Columbia Museum of Art, Central Carolina Community Foundation, the South Carolina Philharmonic and Richland Library to program and lead interactive activities on the State House grounds.

Enjoy SC is made possible through a Knight Cities Challenge grant. The City of Columbia is one of 26 communities to earn these grants nationwide this year. Knight Cities Challenge grants fund projects to make cities more successful. Enjoy SC is also made possible with support and help from the City of Columbia and Central Carolina Community Foundation.

For more information on Enjoy SC and its events, visit EnjoySC.org . For hi-res images and logos, click here. To contact Enjoy SC, email [email protected]. Follow @EnjoySC2018 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.