Emrys Foundation prepares to expand

By Cindy Landrum  

JULY 27, 2010 7:26 a.m. (0)

It’s been 30 years since a dinner in a basement apartment on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. on an icy winter evening that spawned the first conversation about what would become the Emrys  Foundation.

Over bowls of melting ice cream, Keller Cushing Freeman and Sally Wyche Coenen talked about the obstacles confronting writers, composers and artists who were in sore need of somewhere to present their work, especially when those artists were women or minorities.

That initial conversation morphed into Emrys, a nonprofit organization formed in 1983.

For the past 27 years, Emrys, which means Child of Light, has fostered artistic opportunities for women and minorities through several programs – the Reading Room, the Writing Room, the Emrys Journal, the Emrys Press and the Emrys Scholarship.

While that work will continue, the organization goal is to begin to expand its visibility in the Upstate and its membership, said Carol Young Gallagher, the group’s president.

“A lot of people don’t know about us and those who do have the misconception of it being an exclusive sorority,” she said. “We’re not.”

Emrys is working on a new long-range plan, Gallagher said.

Expected to be one of the organization’s goals is finding a permanent home, said Jeanine Halva-Neubauer, the group’s past-president.

Having a storefront location somewhere in Greenville would increase the organization’s visibility and accessibility and make it easier for the group to hold its writing classes, readings and other events.

“We need a physical space identified as Emrys,” Halva-Neubauer said. “We need a home.”

The Writing Room started in 2006 after author Mindy Friddle discovered there was really no place locally for writers to learn more about their craft. Friddle asked the advice of Tommy Hays, a Greenville native, who is co-director of a similar writing program in Asheville. She asked the Emrys Foundation to sponsor Greenville’s version.

And now, the Writing Room gets professional writers to put on a series of writing workshops and seminars, ranging from how to get published to writing sex scenes to writing for children and young adults.

The challenge is finding affordable space to rent, Halva-Neubauer said.

A future goal is to offer at least one scholarship in each of the Writing Room’s classes, Gallagher said.

“We are not at a point where we can do that yet,” she said.

Having a permanent space would eliminate that concern and also allow Emrys to start a writing library, she said.

And it would give the organization a place to hang its art collection, she said.

The group also wants to increase collaborations with other arts groups and to increase support to arts that are not literary-based, Halva-Neubauer said.

“Historically, we have focused most on the literary,” she said. “We try to speak to all art forms, but we’ve tended to focus on the written voice, not the spoken voice.”

Broadening and enhancing the group’s support of other arts will help increase the organization’s visibility. With increased visibility Young hopes comes increased membership.

“Over the years, we’ve had some growing pains,” Halva-Neubauer said. “We need to expand and grow.”

Membership is about 400 and the organization’s rolls have stayed steady over the years. Membership is open to men, although some people might not realize that, Gallagher said.

The Writing Room has been a source of new members for the organization, Gallagher said.

Increased collaboration with other arts groups could bring more members, she said.

In addition to the Writing Room, Emrys sponsors a Reading Room.

The monthly event will start back up in August and run through May. It is held at the Bohemian Café and Restaurant on the fourth Monday of every month except November and December.

The April reading event always features students from the Fine Arts Center and the Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities.

In addition, Emrys sponsors a yearly Journal. Submissions for this year’s Journal will be accepted beginning Aug. 1.

The Journal contains previously unpublished short fiction, poetry and essays.

The Journal receives hundreds of submissions each year.

In addition, there’s the Emrys Press, which publishes poetry chap books, and the Emrys Scholarship, a scholarship designed to encourage South Carolina women to pursue continuing education or to develop a creative endeavor in order to enhance a career in the arts or to change careers.

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