Piccolo Spoleto Festival
Mission And Purpose:
The combination of historic Charleston's old European charm and the world-class Spoleto Festival USA together produce a unique and impacting synergy for all who come to the city by the sea to experience this magnificent international multi arts festival. But what really adds the ingredient of magic to the mix is Piccolo Spoleto, which provides access to the festival for Every Person, especially children. Focusing primarily on artists of the Southeast region, Piccolo Spoleto is the perfect complement to the international scope of its parent festival and its 700 events in 17 days, transforms Charleston into an exhilarating celebration of performing, literary and visual arts. Piccolo Spoleto's traditional program offerings include visual arts exhibits, classical music, jazz, dance, theatre, poetry readings, children's activities, choral music, ethnic cultural presentations, crafts, and film.
Under the direction of Ellen Dressler Moryl, Piccolo Spoleto was designed and launched in 1979 by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs together with a group of volunteers from the Charleston arts community. These arts professionals devoted their time and energy to help produce the various series and presentations which comprised the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. Their individual artistic taste and judgment manifested into the comprehensive festival program which for the last 30 years has been produced and presented by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs.
Piccolo's mission is to provide access to the Spoleto Festival experience for everyone, regardless of their economic, social or physical circumstances and to provide the opportunity for excellent local and regional artists, writers and performances to be presented in Piccolo's "local venue." Piccolo Spoleto offers something wonderful for everyone - from classical to contemporary, from traditional to cutting edge. One of the unique aspects of Piccolo Spoleto is the accessibility to the Spoleto Festival experience.
