S.C. Arts Commission, David Platts, executive director elected to national leadership role

The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) announced the election of a new chair and nine members to its board of directors. As part of a rigorous national nomination process, state arts agencies elected these exemplary leaders at NASAA’s 2025 business meeting.

David T. Platts, the executive director of the South Carolina Arts Commission, was elected as chair of the NASAA board, and will serve a two-year term.

David Platts joined the South Carolina Arts Commission team as the executive director in 2019. For 26 years prior, Platts worked in South Carolina as an educator, principal and district level administrator. He served as the arts and sciences coordinator for Lancaster County School District, a position he held for 15 years. In addition to his work as an educator, Platts has served the Lancaster County Council of the Arts as a board member and president. He has statewide experience as a member, president and treasurer of the Palmetto State Arts Education board and as a past member of the South Carolina Arts Alliance board, where he became active as an arts advocate. He is a member of the South Arts board. On the national level, Platts served as a member of the Education Advisory Committee for the John F. Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education Program and, before his election to chair, on the board and Executive Committee of NASAA. David keeps his own artistic expression fresh by serving as organist and choir director at Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Columbia. (Board term 2023-2028)

Per NASAA’s bylaws, the NASAA board elected these officers to serve on the Executive Committee:

• 1st Vice Chair: LaVon Bracy Davis, Fomer Chair, Florida Division of Arts and Culture
• 2nd Vice Chair: Karen Ewald, Executive Director, Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts
• Treasurer: Michael Donovan, Executive Director, Missouri Arts Council
• Secretary: David Schmitz, Executive Director, Iowa Arts Council

“The 2026 NASAA board represents dynamic and dedicated leadership from our field and allied sectors,” said NASAA Chair David Platts. “I am excited to work with these outstanding leaders as we advance NASAA’s mission to strengthen state arts agencies and continue to advocate for the value of arts and creativity across all communities.”

For more information on NASAA’s board members, visit NASAA Board of Directors.

Founded in 1968, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization. In collaboration with the nation’s 56 state and jurisdictional arts councils, we advance the arts as a powerful path to economic prosperity, rural resilience, good health, education success and strong communities in which everyone thrives. NASAA serves as a clearinghouse for data and research about public funding for the arts as well as the policies and programs of state arts agencies. For more information about NASAA and the work of state arts agencies, visit www.nasaa-arts.org.