About

At Uncharted, we tell stories about professional creatives in South Carolina from all backgrounds and in all industries. We profile creatives in our directory, short-form interviews, and a new podcast. Our stories show South Carolina has a thriving creative economy, from small business owners to designers in large corporations.

How We Started

Uncharted is an intiaitive of The Athenaeum Press at Coastal Carolina University, an innovative and unicorn of a publishing lab where interdisciplinary teams of students, faculty, and community transform ideas into real projects. Since our founding in 2012, over 300 students have worked on over 20 regional, multimedia projects. Our alumni are innovators in storytelling across a number of industries: educational tech, museums, marketing, and education. We wanted to tell our alumni’s amazing stories and learn how the Press experience prepared them for the professsional world.

In 2023, we found a partner for that goal. ArtsGrowSC, the educational arm of the SC Arts Commission, offered us a unique partnership to tell the stories not only of our alumni but all creatives in and from the state. We would partner on this initaitive with their new Creative Careers Studio, a resource that all of us wish we had as we were wondering “What can we do when we grow up?” in high school and college.

So far, we’ve interviewed close to 100 creatives in the state, and we’ll be launching the first five epsiodes of our new podcast: Creative Paths in late Spring 2025.

Our Team

Emma Plutnicki

Project Lead (2023-2025)
MA Liberal Studies (2025)

Molly Beck

Design and Podcast (Summer – Fall 2024)
BFA Visual Communication Design (2025)

Desmond Brooks

Motion Graphics (2024-2025)
BFA Visual Communication Design (2025)

Leigha Ortega

Web and Social Media Design (Fall 2024)
BFA Visual Communication Design (2025)

Lexi Raines

Content Development and Interviewer (Fall 2024 – Spring 2025)
BA English (2026)

Lottie Taylor

Web Design Lead (Fall 2024)
BFA Visual Communication Design (2025)

Press Leadership

Alli Crandell

Director, The Athenaeum Press and Digital Initiatives

Lilith Yurkin

Project Manager, The Athenaeum Press