great river arts institute - press release
GREAT RIVER ARTS INSTITUTE
PO BOX 48 95 ROCKINGHAM STREET
BELLOWS FALLS, VERMONT 05101
802-463-3330
grai@ sover.net
greatriverarts.org
March 1, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tonia Fleming
GRAI AWARDED MAJOR GRANTS FOR OPEN ART LITERACY PROGRAM
Bellows Falls, Vt. – The Great River Arts Institute announces that they have been awarded a $15,000 grant from the Henry L. and Patricia J. Nielsen Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and a $4,900 grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. The grants are in support of Great River’s OPEN ART program, which helps 3 rd through 5 th grade students improve their literacy skills through art-based, multi-disciplinary projects.
After a successful pilot program in Vermont, OPEN ART expanded to elementary schools in New Hampshire in the 2006-07 school year. Great River Arts Institute is now working with the Fall Mountain Regional School District to offer the program at five elementary schools serving six communities: North Walpole, Walpole, Charlestown, Alstead, Acworth and Sarah Porter.
Great River Arts identifies regional artists and educators who create innovative, hands-on art projects while interweaving elements of science, social studies, environmental studies and language arts. The program is offered throughout the school year in six-week sessions and rotates between topics such as nature journaling, photography, collage book-making and telling stories through mask-making. For example, in the session that was just completed, students in Alstead observed the natural environment surrounding their school and sketched and wrote about their impressions. Instructor Betsy Bennett of the Nature Museum of Grafton notes, “I loved how deeply engrossed they would get at looking closely in order to draw. I think these classes are really important to a lot of these students.” Great River Arts Education Director Jackie Fehrenbach adds, “The kids have fun and ultimately we hope that something will get sparked within them.” This year OPEN ART will serve more than 100 students and plans are underway to document the program so that other school districts can implement the project.
Other financial support for the program comes from the Bellows Falls Rotary Club, the A.D. Henderson Foundation, the Fall Mountain Educational Endowment Association, the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, the Savings Bank of Walpole and The Turrell Fund.
The Great River Arts Institute is a non-profit, New-England-based arts center dedicated to supporting and nurturing the visual and literary arts and providing regional youth programs. More information about GRAI is available at www.greatriverarts.org or by calling 802.463.3330.
###