Valerie Manatis Barnet is married to Bill and they have three grown children- Becca, Will, and John, and one grandson, Cassius. In the Spartanburg community, Valerie serves on the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind Foundation Board, and the Board of Directors for Mental Fitness, and Sidewalk Hope, which is a truck that goes into the inner-city neighborhoods weekly to fill spiritual and physical needs of the residents. She also serves as a Stephen Minister at her church, First Presbyterian Spartanburg. Valerie is the Cofounder and Board President of the Hub City Animal Project, an organization that empowers local animal welfare groups who are proactively working to address the root causes of animal homelessness. hubcityanimalproject.com

Nancy Corbin was born in Ohio and moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1976 with her husband Mike as they started a family, and each began a budding career in artistic fields. Both became teachers, though they continued pursuing their personal interests. Mike became a photographer while Nancy has cultivated her love for painting.

As a young girl, Nancy studied art at the Toledo Museum of Art Saturday School. She continued to study visual art, arts education, and arts administration at University of Cincinnati (BFA), University of South Carolina (MA), New York University (Certificate of Arts Administration), Banff School for Fine Arts, Savannah College of Art and Design, The Hemlock Studio, Arrowmont School for Art and Craft, Wild Acres Retreat, The Creativity Workshop, and Converse College.

After teaching in Spartanburg County School District Seven for 14 years, Nancy joined the Spartanburg Day School visual arts faculty in 1991 and taught students a range of subjects from Studio Art to Art History from introductory levels through Advanced Placement. In 1999, she became the first Mildred Harrison Dent Fine Arts Center Coordinator. While at SDS she was awarded the Mildred Harrison Dent Endowed Chair, an honor she held until she moved on at the conclusion of 27 years at the school. Additional honors while at SDS include the school’s permanent collection being named for her, being awarded the Larrabee Endowed Chair, and the future Valerie M. Barnet Theatre will house the Nancy Corbin lobby and gallery.

Her teaching career was enriched greatly by the dozens of art study tours that Nancy led for her students in NYC, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, Switzerland, England, Cuba and Spain. She served for 12 years as a reader of Advanced Placement Studio Art exams for the Educational Testing Service and The College Board.

Since leaving SDS, in addition to serving as secretary of the Board of Directors at Spartanburg Art Museum, Nancy spends her time in her studio at Mayfair Art Studios preparing for upcoming exhibits. Watercolor, pastel, printmaking, and collage are important in her process. Smaller works on paper often lead to large works in acrylic on panels, canvas, and walls. Color and figurative abstraction in layered compositions are responses to current events and historical ties.

Louise Fagan is a Producer and Capacity Builder whose career has its heart in amplifying authentic voices and stories. Since moving to the Upstate in 2014, Louise has worked as a producer and consultant for foundations, non-profit organizations, and the arts community  in project management, video production, and special initiatives. Previous career highlights include productions Off Broadway (NYC) and the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, DC); the Bach Music Festival of Canada; national tour and studio recording of Northern Daughter (Canada/NYC), Olympic Torch Relay (Vancouver Olympics, Southwestern Ontario), Opening & Closing Ceremonies of the Canada Games (Producer/Director). Louise also designs jewelry inspired by nature, books, and art, under the name Willow and Poppy Studios. Whether in a large stadium with a cast of 100s or in a recording studio with a single artist, Louise’s numerous projects are woven with story, building engagement between organizations and the community.