Wisconsin Arts Board Awards Artist and Community Collaboration Grants to 14 Artists

Fourteen Wisconsin artists and their non profit partners will receive grants for innovative community arts projects that address areas such as community arts development, arts education, youth oriented projects, access, and cultural heritage/preservation from the Wisconsin Arts Board as a part of its 2006 Artist and Community Collaboration Grant program. This statewide program provides grants of up to $3,000 in order to encourage more collaborative projects between artists and their communities.

The Wisconsin Arts Board received 26 applications from artists and community based organizations throughout the state. Awards were determined by a panel of arts professionals, based on three criteria: the artist’s ability to complete the project proposed on time; the project’s active involvement of the community in a meaningful way (beyond serving as an audience); and the completed project’s inclusion of a public presentation/exhibition. Priority was given to projects which promote artistic excellence and create new work in underserved communities. Panelists recommended the 14 applicants to members of the Wisconsin Arts Board for its final approval.

The Artist and Community Collaboration Grant program offers grants to Wisconsin artists who initiate a partnership project with a community organization. The grants will be offered again in the Autumn of 2006. More information is available at www.artsboard.wisconsin.gov/static/accgrant.htm. Artists may also call the Wisconsin Arts Board at 608/266-0190 or send an email to artsboard@wisconsin.gov to include their name on the electronic mailing list (e-mail) to automatically receive notice of deadlines.

FY2006 ACCG Recipients

• Terry Daulton/North Lakeland Discovery Center—Mercer
  The artist will create and conduct a workshop bringing together northern artists, educators and scientists around the topic of climate change.
• Roberto Rivera/Imagine a Child’s Capacity—Madison
  As part of an all-school assembly, the artist will use rap, poetry, music, dance, and storytelling to communicate the absolute importance of confronting reality and not escaping from it. The post assembly workshops will further explore the themes expressed in the assembly and will encourage youth to embrace their uniqueness, become socially responsible, and exercise critical thinking skills.
• Bill Grover/Independent Living, Inc.—Verona  
  Working with older adult residents of McKee Park Apartments in Fitchburg and other interested community members, the artist will create and site an outdoor sculpture on the grounds of this residence.
• Kent R. Youngstrom/Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum—Stevens Point  
  The project will involve working with the Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum (CWCM) to create a unique, collaborative Sand Art Community Mural.
• Sharon L. Kilfoy/Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center—Madison  
  The project will consist of an artist-in-residency at Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center during the months of January and February. During this residency, all members of the community will be invited to participate in old fashioned sewing-bees—opportunities to share in the actual construction of the works of art.
• Alisha R. Dall’Osto/Artworks for Milwaukee—Milwaukee
  In the 2006 summer session, the artist will lead apprentices ages 14-21 through the process of designing and creating a mural for a community garden sponsored by Walnut Way Conservation Corp.
• Scott A. Pauli/Atwood Community Center—Madison
  The artist will work with high school students as they conceive, design, and hand screen-print posters to promote teen-related, local events.
• Mark Brueggeman/Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra—Amherst Junction
  The artist will work with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra (CWSO), creating a series of oil paintings inspired by Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. He will create ten paintings (4' in one direction, some horizontal and some vertical) corresponding to the ten movements excluding the Promenades.
• Armando P. Gallegos/Walker’s Point Center for the Arts—Milwaukee
  This project involves artists painting portraits of community members on flat wood panels then attaching them to boarded up windows located throughout the Walker’s Point neighborhood. The goal of this project involves the combination of community members, institutions, and a diverse group of artists working within the community to create a reflection of the neighborhood residents bringing the community together.
• Lori B. Vance/Golda Meir School—Milwaukee
  The artist will collaborate with Golda Meir School for the Gifted and Talented, a public elementary school in the City of Milwaukee, to build upon the creation of the memorial, "The Remembrance Tree; A Project for Peace," which was created to honor children who had died from acts of violence. This multi-disciplinary arts project will build leadership from the gifted and talented students, focusing on peaceful conflict resolution, further reinforcing their ongoing commitment to the work of non-violence.
• Jennifer L. Edge/Monroe Arts Center—Monroe
  The Shakespeare Project is a 14 week theater project created to engage teens in dialoging about the tough issues of abuse and violence in our culture and in our own lives.
• Marcus Nickel/South Central Federation of Labor—Madison
  This project will involve the creation of a design for a brand new mural based on Madison’s long and varied labor history. It will be designed utilizing the input and suggestions of community members who have lived this history. Neighborhood residents and others will be able to observe and participate in the process, which will culminate with a series of public presentations including guest lectures on labor history and the history of community murals.
• Betty Salamun/Benedict Center Women’s Project—Milwaukee
  DanceCircus and The Benedict Center will present a concert performance of the GIVING VOICE Series building on the stories and triumphs of the women referred to The Benedict Center’s Women’s Program by the Court and/or Department of Corrections.
• Erin L. O’Brien/River Alliance of Wisconsin—Madison
  This singer-songwriter will begin a two-year collaboration with the River Alliance of Wisconsin, a statewide non-profit river and watershed conservation organization. The artist will encourage water protection advocates across the state to share stories, poetry and readings about their inspirations and motivations for their involvement in local water protection work. From the contributions of project participants, she will develop a collection of original songs about peoples’ connections to Wisconsin’s waters and the issues that threaten those waters. She will use the presentation of these songs to heighten the awareness of water conservation issues and to renew and expand individual and community commitment to water protection work.

  

Contact: Mark Fraire, 608/264-8191
Date Posted: 1/19/06