Joshua Powell brings more than two decades of experience in arts education, leadership, and student advocacy to his new role as Assistant Director of the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina. A dedicated educator and visionary leader, Powell has spent his career expanding access to high-quality arts opportunities while supporting both student growth and teacher development.
Since 2013, Powell has served as the Visual & Performing Arts Coordinator for Anderson County School District Five, where he has led professional learning for arts educators, coordinated districtwide programming, and represented the district in numerous state-level organizations. In 2014, he founded the Anderson Five Arts Consortium, creating a robust Artistically Gifted & Talented identification process and a summer arts program that has opened doors for countless middle school students.
Powell’s impact at Southwood Academy of the Arts spans fifteen years, where he has served as a visual art and yearbook instructor, arts lead teacher, grant manager, and School Improvement Council chair. His leadership has resulted in innovative curriculum development, expanded arts pathways, successful grant acquisition, and the establishment of advanced coursework opportunities for middle school students. His earlier career includes roles as an educator, coach, athletic director, and behavior specialist, experiences that continue to inform his student-centered approach to leadership.
A respected leader across South Carolina, Powell has contributed extensively to arts education at the state level. He currently serves in leadership roles with the South Carolina Art Education Association and the advisory committee for Palmetto State Arts Education, and has facilitated strategic arts planning and curriculum initiatives with the South Carolina Department of Education. In 2025, he was named Visual Art Summer Middle Program Chair at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities and also serves as a Visual Art Teacher as Artist Institute Coordinator/Professor with Converse University.
Powell’s excellence has been recognized with numerous honors, including Anderson School District Five Teacher of the Year, the South Carolina Art Education Association’s Art Educator of the Year, and the prestigious Karen Wheeler Distinguished Service Award. His commitment to educational leadership is further reflected in his recent completion of certification in Education Administration and Supervision from Gardner-Webb University.