ABOUT
EXPlore
Our Four Pillars
What does it mean to thrive in a creative community? Work with peers to examine pre-existing artistic frameworks and their origins in order to gain access to new creative opportunities.
Embrace the fact that you are a creative person. Commit time to learning how to cultivate a creative practice and create space to develop as a professional artist who engages and contributes to their community.
Redefine what it means to make art and who gets to make art. Become a resource that connects your communities as you strive toward self-actualization.
To become a collective is to aspire to a deep-rooted engagement and to produce scalable and sustainable solutions that contribute to a thriving environment. We are called to work together, grow collectively, share, and create as part of a broader community network that nurtures us and invests in our success.
Our Mission
To transform arts education in the Lowcountry. To cultivate thriving artists and build a stronger, sustainable, and culturally equitable art community by investing in the artistic and creative needs of students, teachers, and parents.
Our VISiON
We believe in thriving art communities in the Lowcountry. We become stronger, sustainable, and culturally equitable, by joining with others in order to further Discover, Create, Evolve, Together.
Founder’s Message / Call to Action
Becoming a successful contemporary artist came with an important realization, “It takes a community to raise a child.” This is the core value of the CEW Collaborative. All my achievements have been made possible by the support of my community and those closest to me. Without them, I would not have been able to make the artwork I have made nor the connections that have led to its critical and commercial success.
The CEW Collaborative was created to make this process available to others and, in this way, give back to the communities that have nurtured and made my artistic career what it is today. It is a foundational resource and platform for aspiring young individuals to launch their careers. By design, the efforts of the CEW Collaborative will achieve cultural equity and inclusion in our communities. Through our collective success, we will build a network of stronger, more sustainable, and equitable communities. The Collaborative functions to empower both makers and audiences. We have adopted our Four Pillars, which articulate what is needed for the arts and artists to serve their communities. These Four Pillars are a call to action. Those who join the Collaborative answer the call to Discover, Create, and Evolve Together.
The collaborative welcomes participation from all parts of our community, whether from college students earning credits, business professionals with a passion for the arts, or those interested in alternative forms of education. I believe in the transformative power of art to shape how we experience the world. Art is healing, advocacy, discovery, communication, togetherness - art is life.
Charles Edward Williams
Founder
Our Team
Charles Edward Williams
Founder / Creative Director
Debra McNeese
Executive Director
Christie Weaver
Education Liaison / Recruiter
Our Board
Suzanne Fetscher
President
Beth Stedman
Board Member
Johnny Ford
Board Member
Linda Ketron
Advisor to the Board
Founder
Charles
Edward
Williams
I believe in the transformative power of art to shape how we experience the world. Art is healing, advocacy, discovery, communication, togetherness - art is life.
Contact us
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 2653
Pawleys Island, SC 29585
Charles Edward Williams
Founder / Creative Director
charles@cewcollaborative.com
Debra McNeese
Executive Director
debra@cewcollaborative.com
Christie Weaver
Education Liaison / Recruiter
christie@cewcollaborative.com
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