COLUMBUS – The Polk County Board of Commissioners approved Tryon Fine Arts Center (TFAC) as its N.C. Arts Council Designated County Partner this month.

Commissioners met Jan. 8 and heard from TFAC Board members Andy Millard and Marianne Carruth.

Millard said every county is supposed to have a designated partner and Polk County is only one of 10 in the state that does not have a designated partner. The purpose of the N.C. Arts Council is to administer the Grassroots arts grants.

TFAC has served the last 10 years as the provisional administrator of the grants and Millard said being the designated county partner will cut down on annual paperwork to be the provisional.

Standards to be the designated county partner for the N.C. Arts Council include providing support for quality programming in the performing, visual, literary and traditional arts, to foster collaborative relationships with and provide services and support for county arts organizations and arts resources, to support individual artist in the county through services and opportunities including appropriately compensating artists for service, conduct or support arts in education programs led by qualified artists for pre-K-12 students, demonstrate a commitment to racial and cultural equity in programming, board representation, governance and administrative practices, demonstrate stability and fiscal responsibility through effective board and staff leadership, sound administrative practices and strategic planning, track economic impact and actively participate in county tourism and economic development efforts and maintain a history of managing the Grassroots grant responsibly and according to requirements, including meeting the deadlines for application, fulfilling the subgranting and multicultural requirements and completing final reports.

Millard said TFAC had a letter of endorsement from Polk County Schools and the decision to have TFAC be the designated county partner was unanimous with every arts organization in the area.