As South Carolinians prepare to vote on 3 November, the future of arts funding in the state has become an election issue. The governor-appointed South Carolina Arts Commission has denied funding to two LGBTQ+ performing arts organisations and to an artist whose work addresses immigration, after adopting new guidelines in August that bar grants for work promoting any ideology.

The commission, made up of nine governor-appointed volunteers, has distributed more than $132 million in grants to artists, schools and cultural organisations since it was established in 1967. After a board meeting on 20 August, it announced that grantees could not direct funds to the promotion of ideological positions, a rule that echoes President Donald Trump's targeting of federal grant funding for projects connected to race, gender and related subjects.

The National Coalition Against Censorship condemned the rule in a statement published on 28 October, arguing that without a clear definition of ideology or promotion, the new guideline could be used to suppress almost any cultural activity touching on society, history, identity, religion, science or politics. The coalition also criticised the timing, noting that the rule was adopted after proposals had already been independently reviewed and vetted.

For voters, the episode raises a direct question about who controls the state's cultural purse strings. The commission's members are appointed by the governor, so the outcome of the November election will shape the body that decides which artists and organisations receive public money in South Carolina.