Arts Council Announces Awards $111,400 in Wells Fargo Arts-In-Education Grants
Winston-Salem, NC (September 10, 2019) - The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County’s Wells Fargo Arts-In-Education grant will award $111,400 in arts education programming for the 2019-2020 school year. For over 20 years, The Arts Council has partnered with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools to bring professional artists into school classrooms and performance spaces to share their craft and expertise with students. Furthermore, this partnership allows for arts programming to align with the NC Standard Course of Study and the WS/FCS goals and priorities ensuring that these programs are equitably distributed within the school system.
Annually, this grant program provides more than 31,000 interactions with kindergarten through high school students in WS/FC public schools. Studies have shown that the arts lower the dropout rate and transform the lives of young people. Exposure to the arts can improve self-esteem and problem solving skills as well as foster creative development and appreciation for the diversity of a community. Students enriched with arts education score higher on standardized tests and go on to bring creativity and diverse thinking into the workplace.
In addition to enhancing programming for students, this program also supports the needs of arts teachers through professional development further strengthening our commitment to arts education. Arts teachers have the opportunity to attend a variety of field-specific conferences or seek additional arts education training. In the past four years, this program has funded over 750 arts teacher professional development trainings.
Winston-Salem, known as a City of Arts and Innovation, and Forsyth County have a robust arts community that enriches the lives of area residents every day and accounts in large part for the recognition they continue to receive as a great place to live, learn, work and play. The most recent studies available showed that Forsyth County’s nonprofit arts industry supports 5,559 full time equivalent jobs; accounts for more than $129 million in resident household income, and generates more than $14.8 million in local and state tax revenues.
WELLS FARGO ARTS-IN-EDUCATION GRANTS
(21 Awards Totaling $111,400)
a/perture: $ 1,920 To conduct Mis en Scene (Telling a Story) workshops for middle and high school theatre classes
Associated Artists of Winston-Salem: $ 4,600 To provide artist-led workshops in the creative process, calligraphy, Chinese painting, and papermaking to art classes in all grade levels
Bookmarks: $ 5,080 To support bringing award-winning illustrator and author, James Ransome and Lesa Cline-Ransome, of Before She Was Harriet to visit and distribute 200 copies of their book to second-grade students
Carlota Santana Spanish Dance Company: $ 1,000 To provide flamenco dancing workshops and performances
Carolina Music Ways: $ 7,000 To present assembly performances of Carolina Live! Our Musical History, a musical program that introduces elementary school students to the Piedmont’s cross-cultural musical legacy featuring jazz, blues, bluegrass, gospel, Moravian, and old-time string bands
Hispanic League: $ 1,000 To present an assembly performances of Che Apalache, a nationally known Argentine-based band that fuses Appalachian and Lain American string music
Jordan Medley (dancer): $ 2,000 To provide contemporary dance masterclasses and workshops to high school dance classes
Karl Kassner (brass musician): $ 7,200 To provide one-on-one instructive brass clinics for middle school music students
Kathryn Gauldin (fiber artist): $ 1,800 To provide an artist residency for middle school art students who will design and create a collaborative tapestry using traditional and repurposed items
Mark Donnell (actor/director): $ 4,500 To provide three Commedia dell’arte (comedy of art) artist residencies for high school theatre classes
Mary D. Williams (vocalist): $ 1,000 To present, “Moments in History,” an interactive performance of music and history with acclaimed singer, educator & historian, Mary D. Williams
Music Carolina: $ 6,000 To present multiple performances of “Brass Under the Big Top” which integrates musical performances with the magic of the circus to expose elementary school students to classical music and history
Piedmont Craftsmen: $ 10,000 To provide multiple craft artisans-in-residencies for high school art classes including ceramics, basket making, mixed-media, and weaving
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting: $ 2,000 To provide photojournalism workshops for third-grade students to explore photography, journalism, and history
Shared Radiance: $4,500 To present ShakesCollage, a 45-minute compilation of Shakespeare, for middle and high school students
Tam Tam Mandigue: $8,000 To bring hands-on African drumming and dancing residencies and workshops to elementary and middle school students
UNCSA Foundation: $ 6,980 To conduct contemporary dance workshops with multiple high school dance classes
WS Festival Ballet: $5,000 To conduct dance master classes for high school dance students that will include ballet, jazz, contemporary, and musical theatre dance instruction
WS Symphony: $8,500 To support “The Mary Starling In-School Music Education Program,” a program that engages all the public 4th and 5th grade students through intimate ensemble performances in schools and a full orchestra concert at R.J. Reynolds Auditorium
WS/FCS - Arts Professional Development: $ 15,820 To support professional development opportunities for core arts teachers
WS/FCS Public Art Project (1 school): $ 7,500 To support a one-time public art project for a WS/FC school
This program receives support from the Wells Fargo Foundation, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and from the N.C. Arts Council, a Division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.