Greenville's Fine Arts Center Partners with Clemson to Offer Architecture Program

Greenville County Schools announced Wednesday a partnership with Clemson University and the local architectural community to offer an architecture program through the Fine Arts Center.

Fifteen students will begin the four-year Art of Architecture program in the fall, said Roy Fluhrer, director of the Fine Arts Center. Students, rising 9th through 12th grade, can apply here. Applications must be received by July 26.

Fluhrer said the ideal candidates for the class would meet the same criteria of their Fine Arts students. 

"We want to see evidence of drawing skills, artistic skills, good grades," Fluhrer said. "We also want to see a portfolio of their work, not all perfect pieces, we would like to see a progression of how they have grown. The final part will be an interview with the faculty."

Students accepted in the program will be taught by practicing architects with experience in building renovation and design.

The program, the first of its kind in the country, is being privately funded to the by the Jean T. and Heyward G. Pelham Foundation.

Bill Pelham, president of Pelham Artchitects LLC and trustee of the foundation founded by his parents, said the program will give high school students their first "try" at what could potentially be a career.

"Art of Architecture is a natural fit for the rest of the arts," Pelham said. "A lot of kids would jump at the chance to do this in high school. Here's a chance for them to give it the first try and to see if it's what they want to do."

Pelham said that he will come in to work with students as a guest critic. He said he would also open up his office to the students to see a range of work and how the design process works. 

Pelham said he's also excited that students will have an opportunity to experience other parts of the Fine Arts Center's programs even as they study architecture. 

"One of the things they will do is to make their own sketch book," Pelham said. "They do that here and they will understand that process. So as they begin to draw and sketch in that book, it will mean more than something off the shelf at Michaels."

Students who complete courses with a grade of B or better will receive university credits for those course, if accepted into the School of Architecture at Clemson University.

Greenville County School Board Chair Chuck Saylors said this is a project that gets him excited for the future of education.

"This is the coolest thing I've seen in a really long time," Saylors said. "I've always had a passion for this place. When Roy came to us and said, 'I have an idea,' I was like, 'why didn't we do this a long time ago?'"

Saylors said a program like this is "the fun part of education." He said seeing the excitement of the staff at Clemson, the staff at the Fine Arts Center, the school administration is a huge win for Greenville County Schools.

Saylors said he would be at a meeting of urban suburban school districts later this week and that he couldn't wait to talk this project up. He said the program could open up the possibility for more partnerships with other colleges and universities.

The course will be taught by Catherine Smith, AIA, owner of Catherine Smith Architect, LLC. Smith opened her firm in 2009 after spending eight years in New Orleans working on the repair and renovation of the U.S. Customs House after Hurricane Katrina. Smith's work also can be seen locally at North Main's Parkwood House, Idlewood House and Pettigru House.