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Riley Pope & Laney member Heidi Carey appointed to South Carolina Arts Commission

April 3, 2025

South Carolina Arts Commission adds cellist, visual artist to board of commissioners

Appointees begin three-year terms

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina Arts Commission is welcoming an artistic pair of new members to its nine-person board of commissioners for three-year terms after their gubernatorial appointments and state senate confirmations.

  • Heidi B. Carey of Columbia.
  • Russell P. “Rip” Parks of Easley.

A University of South Carolina educated cellist and attorney, Heidi B. Carey has practiced residential foreclosure and bankruptcy law since 2001. She joined her current firm Riley Pope and Laney, LLC in 2008 and became a member of the firm in 2010. She is a member of the South Carolina and Richland County bar associations and admitted to practice before all South Carolina state courts and the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Her artistic pursuits include playing cello in the rock band Treadmill Trackstar and as a tenured cello section member of the South Carolina Philharmonic, and she also serves at Eastminster Presbyterian Church. Carey, her husband Ken, and their two children reside in Columbia.

Russell P. “Rip” Parks, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, is a native of Greenville who practiced healthcare architecture for 35 years across the U.S. and internationally. He is a graduate of Clemson University and holds separate master’s degrees in business, architecture and urban design. He served five years on the board of visitors of Clemson University and currently serves on the board of the Wilbur O. & Ann Powers College of Business. He is also active at North Greenville University. A visual artist, Parks currently leads the visual arts ministry at First Presbyterian Church, Greenville. He and his wife, Edith, reside in Easley.

Visit SouthCarolinaArts.com or call 803.734.8696, and follow @SCArtsComm on Facebook, Instagram, and X for #Arts4SC and #SCArtists content.

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