“Be the coffee bean, don’t let the water change you. Change the water.”
Carla Angus is a youth advocate and arts leader from Lake City, SC, empowering young people through education, performance, and community transformation.
About
Carla Angus wears many hats but each one is woven with her passion for youth development and creative empowerment. As Director of Community Engagement for ArtFields and founder of the statewide ArtFields Jr. competition, Carla brings young voices to the forefront of South Carolina’s arts scene. She’s also the visionary behind Dramatic Coffee Beans, a youth organization that uses performing arts to help students navigate life’s challenges with confidence and purpose.
Originally an educator and school principal, Carla left behind a path to school district leadership in search of deeper, more personal impact. Through her consulting business, Transforming Minds, and community engagement work, she now supports students, educators, and volunteers by creating space for creative growth especially for those who might not otherwise have access to the arts.
Carla’s defining moment was launching ArtFields Jr., which has grown from a local youth art competition into a statewide, traveling exhibition that celebrates the talent and stories of students from grades 1–12. “If you get them when they’re young,” she says, “maybe they’ll keep going as they grow.”
For Carla, success means building inclusive spaces where creativity thrives especially for young people in rural communities. Her leadership style emphasizes listening, stepping back, and sharing the spotlight. Whether mentoring volunteers, producing youth theater, or shaping state-wide arts programming, Carla’s mission is clear: help young people become the kind of bold change-makers who don’t just survive the heat, they transform it.
