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. - Great River Arts Institute (GRAI) announces that they have been awarded a $16,000 grant from the A.D. Henderson Foundation and a $5,000 grant from The Turrell Fund. 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 in 2005/06, Great River Arts is continuing the OPEN ART by working with the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union to offer the program at four of their elementary schools: Bellows Falls Central, Saxtons River Elementary, Westminster Center and Grafton Elementary. These schools complement the program at five schools in New Hampshire’s Fall Mountain Regional School District.
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 Westminster worked with the Sandglass Theater of Putney to make puppets and scenery and present a show. Instructor Inez Zeller-Bass notes,.” I liked being with the students and I think they had fun with all the different aspects of the puppet project. Parent Rachel Peters adds, “Both my kids loved the puppet workshop. They were proud of their accomplishments in creating a puppet, learning their lines and performing. 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 OPEN ART program comes from the Bellows Falls Rotary Club, the Fall Mountain Educational Endowment Association, the Henry L. and Patricia J. Nielsen Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the Savings Bank of Walpole.
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.
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