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Fellow Countrymen

Greenville, South Carolina -Fellow Countrymen is a community-based nonprofit that is aiming to end veteran homelessness within the Upstate of South Carolina. Since their inception in late 2016, they have housed, assisted and provided supportive services to more than 1,100 veterans who are attempting to get back to a normal life after experiencing homelessness or transitional issues. 

In 2020, Premier Arts Collective implemented its first art program with Fellow Countrymen, serving homeless veterans and those transitioning to civilian life. The classes were designed to build self-confidence and self-awareness while being a catalyst for healing through the use of art, allowing the process of creating art and free expression to help release the trauma from PTSD, addiction, and homelessness.

Each year since, PAC has provided art and music therapy for veterans at Fellow Countrymen’s annual retreat. At the 2023 retreat, Brad Carraway led the group in creating stones with positive messages to add in a rock garden that is being established as a place of reflection and healing for the participants of the program. Alison Hughey led the group in a time of music therapy, incorporating her bluetooth stethoscope to create songs from the rhythm of the participants’ heartbeats, songwriting, and active music making via drumming.

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100,000

Number of veterans living in Upstate South Carolina

FREE

Total art therapy classes given

16

Number of veterans who participated in the first art class

800

Number of homeless veterans served by Fellow Countrymen

16,000

Instagram views of Jared Emerson’s “Face of God” art performance on camouflage

For more information about Fellow Countrymen, visit their FaceBook page here.

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Jared Emerson

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DAVID (Nu-Day Academy)

David has been blind since the age of two, but that has not stopped him from pursuing his passion for music. Nu-Day Academy awakened his musical interests, challenged him as a pianist, and propelled him forward in his journey as a musician. However, Nu-Day Academy of the Arts means much more to David than simply a place to hone his skills.

Take a look at how Nu-Day Academy has shaped David and how he is giving back to those around him.

Marielos

Marielos (Nu-Day Academy)

Marielos’ life is completely transformed because of music. Growing up in El Salvador surrounded by violence and enduring immense trauma, music created a release and allowed her to take back her life. Take a look at how Nu-Day Academy saved Marielos.

Troy Murray (A.K.A TYP)

Troy Murray was introduced to Premier in 2016. As a young aspiring artist, he found a deep connection with the organization, as well as with PAC artist Jared Emerson. As the relationship grew, Troy was open and honest about his prior struggles with alcohol and drug addiction.

He started drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana in the summer of his 8th grade year. He soon made the transition to harder drugs, and by the beginning of his sophomore year of high school, Troy had tried almost every drug available to him; always seeking to feed his daily addiction.

In 2012, at 21 years of age, Troy had been in and out of various rehabilitation centers, struggling to stay sober and falling back into addiction each time. After hitting a life-altering low point, he checked into one last facility. There he was reminded of his love of drawing and began sketching portraits of the people around him. He started immersing himself in art and daily prayer as a means to overcome his abusive urges. Art helped Troy turn his brain off and escape from past temptations. The desire to get high to survive was miraculously gone within two weeks. With every struggle and obstacle during his painful journey of staying sober, he learned a lot about the real Troy Murray. His new relationship with God revealed his true capabilities and strengths. Troy rediscovered himself with confidence; growing into the person God created him to be.

Troy has played an instrumental role in the development of Premier Arts Collective. His story of redemption and recovery is the embodiment of how art can be used as therapy to heal from life’s traumas. To give back and help others, he has taught art classes to girls in Cambodia who were victims of sex trafficking, led sessions in Cuba, performed in Jordan for Iraqi and Syrian refugees and was involved with the K-LOVE Hope Center, an inner-city, faith-based organization in Detroit. Together with Premier Arts Collective, Troy continues to share his challenges with addiction and the redeeming path to recovery, encouraging others to find healing and hope through art.

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Samuel Monterrosa

Samuel Monterrosa is the Director of Nu-Day Academy in San Salvador, El Salvador. He has been mentoring, coaching and advising students in music education for over 15 years. He is often asked how music helps. Samuel believes that for many children, music is opportunity. Music is the way out of a life of poverty and brokenness. Nu-Day Academy provides opportunities for youth to build their self-esteem through music.

Born and raised in San Salvador, Samuel believes all lasting achievement is rooted in developing good character and maturity through the daily exercise of personal responsibility. Samuel’s guidance at Nu-Day Academy has built an environment focusing on character skills.

Under Samuel’s leadership, Nu-Day Community Choir was formed. The choir has become a favorite to the entire country, performing on every national television station, at concerts and for the Salvadorian government. Samuel is also the baritone pillar in the youth band known throughout Latin America as One Love El Salvador.

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Keisha Oliver

Keisha Oliver is a social artist, community facilitator, and academic whose cross-disciplinary practice explores themes of identity, social equity and cultural heritage within the African diaspora.

She joined the University of The Bahamas in 2013 where she now works as an Assistant Professor and Head of the Visual Arts and Design Department. She is the principal of KOliver Design, a design and branding studio, and co-founder of Summer Arts Immersion, an intensive creative program for high school students. Keisha holds degrees in Graphic Design from the University for the Creative Arts and the University of The Arts London. She also contributes as an arts writer, photographer, and independent curator with creative and non-profit organizations invested in advancing Caribbean visual culture.

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Alison Hughey

Alison Hughey’s greatest passion is guiding clients in connection, comfort and communication through music. Since studying music therapy at Converse University and earning her board certification in 2010, she has served clients from 18 months of age up to 103 years old and contributed to research in community mental health and dementia care. Alison wears multiple “music hats” as a worship leader, band member, and music & wellness workshop facilitator.

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Courtney Chandler

Courtney Chandler is a board-certified art therapist, licensed professional counselor, trauma-conscious yoga teacher, and founder of HeARTS for Hope Therapy in Greenville, SC. She has a decade of experience offering expressive art therapy groups in mental health facilities, schools, detention facilities, and substance use treatment centers across the country. She loves supporting adults and teens as they navigate challenges of trauma and grief, using an integrative combination of art therapy, somatic psychotherapy, and EMDR. Motivated by the belief that everyone is innately creative and art is an expression of self-love and divine connection, she uses a holistic mind-body approach in her therapeutic practice, and feels honored to hold space for hope and healing.

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Anita Yeh Norrie

Anita Yeh Norrie (MA-Art Therapy) is passionate about creating change and improving lives through the transformative power of creating art. A life-long believer in the therapeutic and cathartic power of art, she built her career around developing programs and relationships that encourage expression, and self-realization through creativity.

While an art and design business owner, she was the vehicle of expression for her client’s vision. As an art therapist, she has created therapeutic art programs for kids, mental health programs and nonprofits; launched and operated an open art studio for a community arts center; and led hundreds of people to live a better life through their own discovery of creativity and artistic self-expression.

Anita’s current work of art is Art Power!, the nonprofit she founded in 2017 where she and her team are working to change the lives of underserved kids in Cozumel, Mexico, through their therapeutic choice-based art studio.

When not in the art studio, you can usually find Anita contemplating her next project while exploring tasty food stands and out-of-the-way eateries, wherever she may be.

Troy Murray

Troy Murray

Troy Murray, a.k.a. TYP, is a multidisciplinary artist, originally from Detroit and now based in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of mediums, typically blending painting with fabrication and 3-dimensional elements. He specializes in what he calls “alternative canvas,” where he uses 3-dimensional objects to create his substrate and paints subjects that correlate with them in order to bring a story to life in a unique way. His creativity and artwork has earned him significant acclaim and attention from art buyers around the world.

Troy is always expanding his talents by hosting compelling art shows and engaging in cutting-edge collaborations. His iconic work is featured by clients such as Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, The House of Athlete, Cincinnati Bengals and Cincinnati Reds.

Beyond expressing his creativity, Troy uses art as a charitable platform and a way to make an impact in the world, whether it’s through teaching art to children in countries across the globe, or inspiring others with his personal testimony of how art aided in his recovery from drug addiction.

Troy continues to be instrumental with inspiring the direction of Premier Arts Collective from art-related mission trips to Cambodia, Jordan and Cuba.

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Jared Emerson

Jared Emerson is world renown for his captivating performance art and studio originals.  His art has raised millions of dollars for charities and ministries around the world.  Jared’s work with Premier Arts Collective allows him to use his gifts by engaging in interactive art classes and performances across the globe; using his art for healing, therapy and restoration for those who have experienced trauma and abuse.

Born in Michigan and now residing in Greenville, South Carolina, Jared’s personal mission has led him to perform and create art, in a vast array of media, for a large number of collectors, corporations, churches and charities, with his performance piece “Face of God” being the most requested.

Jared’s credits include: ReviveUs 2 with Kirk Cameron, Winter Jam concert tour, TEDx, K-LOVE, CBS Sports, Game Plan for Life, The 700 Club, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, NASCAR, Museum of the Bible, Coca-Cola, Michelin, Land Rover, Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Pistons, Family Christian Stores and countless others.

Jared’s success has made his artwork sought after by many celebrities and sports figures.  His clients include: Carrie Underwood, Carson Wentz, Jack Nicklaus, Guy Fieri, Joe Gibbs, Willie Mays, Albert Pujols, Jimmy John, Forrest Lucas, Smokey Robinson and Joe Greene, to name a few.

For booking information, contact gene@premierartscollective.com.

Mariah-Sloan

Mariah Sloan

Mariah Sloan began serving as Marketing Manager on the Premier Arts Collective team in September of 2022. She grew up in a ministry family traveling the world and leading musical worship in diverse church contexts. Through this experience, her passion for reaching people through the arts ignited. Mariah earned a dual degree in Contemporary Worship Arts and Leadership and Studio Art: Graphic Art from North Greenville University in Tigerville, South Carolina. In 2020, she received a Master of Arts in Theology and Ministry degree with emphasis in Worship, Theology, and the Arts from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

Mariah’s greatest joys are to see lives transformed through the arts and to inspire artists to thrive within their creative callings. She believes that the arts are the most vibrant and powerful way of sharing important concepts and ideas in our lives. Within her role at PAC, it is Mariah’s mission to tell the stories of transformation and healing that unfold within PAC programs and initiatives.

In her free time, you will catch Mariah “painting” on her tablet, singing and strumming her guitar, or enjoying a great cup of coffee and life-giving conversation with a friend.

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Logan Rice

Logan Rice joined the Premier Arts Collective Team in August of 2021 and serves as the Director of Events & Programs. A graduate from the University of South Carolina, Logan has had the joy of bringing many events, programs, and dreams to life through a variety of outlets in his professional and personal life.

Logan and his wife Rebekah are the blessed parents of their daughters, Selah and Piper. Logan also has the joy and privilege to be a licensed SC Foster Parent, so the number of kids in his mini-van may fluctuate from time to time.

You may find Logan out and about Greenville with his family, drinking coffee, watching motorsports – or any combination of the three – in his spare time. Logan is blessed to have the opportunity to lead others in musical worship most Sunday mornings – singing and playing four, maybe five, chords on his guitar.

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Rebekah

Rebekah Gregory

Rebekah Gregory joined the Premier Arts Collective team in the summer of 2009. She came to us from Furman University where she served as director of the Paladin Club, the fundraising arm of the athletics department. Prior to Furman, Rebekah was an NCAA compliance officer at Michigan State University. She received her undergraduate degree in health & exercise science from Furman University and a graduate degree in sports management from the University of Tennessee.

In her current role at Premier Arts Collective, Rebekah is responsible for everything related to finances and human resources. Additionally, she oversees the planning and implementation of cruise mission excursions, produces all fundraising auctions and maintains donor relations.

Rebekah and her husband Jon have two children, Jackson & Laine. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family, watching her children participate in sports, volunteering at her children’s school, traveling and reading. Rebekah is the least creative person she knows and is envious of anyone who can create something from nothing.

Gene Krcelic

Gene Krcelic

Gene joined the Premier Foundation in 2009 to develop the organization’s strategy for charitable endeavors, paving the way for the reimagined Premier Arts Collective. He came to Premier from OMG SportsEntertainmentMusic, a multifaceted sponsorship, music, sports and event management firm with offices in the Southeast and California. As founder and CEO of OMG, he created OMG Records and Recording Studio, later signing a deal with EMI-CMG (now Capital-CMG) for record distribution and publishing.

Gene also led the sports division, representing professional athletes. He negotiated contracts for clients and nonprofit programming with global brands including Coca-Cola, Nike, Reebok, Land Rover, BMW, Family Christian Bookstores, Chinese Olympic Federation, Black Entertainment Television and the Boys Choir of Harlem.

Gene is the author of the books “Loves Like a Hurricane” and the children’s book, “Go God Go.”

He has volunteered his time and resources extensively in disaster relief with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and the PDA National Response Team. He earned dual degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lives in Greer, South Carolina, with his wife, Mary, and is blessed with two accomplished daughters.

“I love paintings, sculpture, music, writing, dance, cooking…I love all forms of art. In everything, there is a flash where the physical meets the idea; that is the precise moment when genius is born. That is the precise moment when imagination crosses creation, resulting in Art.”