Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 Steering Committee is reviewing 23 submitted proposals that would implement the vision and priorities of the Imagine 2020 plan. Your feedback is necessary in preparation for a community conversation about their merits. Click on any one of the project titles below and scroll down to submit your thoughts.

AMPED Education and Entrepreneurship Programs

Education: Each student spends 8 to 10 hours each week learning a variety of music and performance genres, such as rap, song, spoken word, and instrumentation, specifically for African American students. Students choose one major and one minor among the following subjects: songwriting, music composition, recording, engineering, audio equipment setup, video, photography, web design, coding, and marketing. AMPED students have a combined grade point average of 3.0 and improved school attendance. We serve students who are in Exceptional Childhood Education (ECE) and Special Education (SE) as well students with various healthcare issues.

Core Programming: We serve 80 students per 8-week period, not including external programming which serves an additional 100 students per week. AMPED is open Monday through Friday from 3:00pm to 8:00pm. We are open on Saturdays with flexible hours to accommodate some of our more at-risk African American male students who are attempting to remove themselves from gang-related issues and start over.

Requested Amount: $25,000

The Women’s Art Impact Initiative: Changing Lives. Creating Hope.

Our project for grant submission is The Women’s Art Impact Initiative: Changing Lives. Creating Hope., a social enterprise aimed at providing women in crisis recovery an opportunity for a fresh start, the skills and confidence needed for financial stability, an ongoing support system, and an apprenticeship-to-entrepreneurship business pipeline, using the arts as a backdrop.

Women in crisis recovery, whether from an abusive relationship, chemical dependency, or mental illness, face a tough road and many barriers as they transition to their new lives post-crisis. Loved ones have often abandoned them during treatment, many are single mothers, and some have a criminal record which greatly diminishes their access to  a financially secure job. Often this same population lacks secondary or post-secondary degrees, access to basic needs such as housing and transportation, and has little to no resources for continued services. They face stigma and discrimination and often relapse into crisis without the proper support.

Through our program, the Arts Alliance of Southern Indiana will partner with area social service agencies, the corrections system, and the mental health and recovery community, to ease the post-crisis transition for 18-20 (we will pilot the program with 9 women) specifically-selected women, and subsequently their current or future children.

For sixth months, these women will experience an intensive life skills and business skills training program about how to start their own business in the arts, be connected to a community mentor, engage in regular art therapy, be matched with a stipend-paid arts apprenticeship, and have her own storefront in the new Hope Gallery at the Arts Alliance building.

The exhibit will be named by and in honor of the cohort themselves, and then travel through the tri-county area. It will be coupled with free, community-based programs and events that lead to dialogue, awareness, and advocacy regarding our at-risk community of women in crisis.

Other art therapy activities do exist as part of the treatment plan at many recovery centers, but our program specifically allows for these women to turn their art projects into retail enterprises that can contribute to their overall income. The business skills they will learn at the same time are invaluable to developing both a positive employment track-record and the confidence needed to start their own business, in the arts or beyond.

Requested Amount: 7,500.00

Bluegrass Anonymous Concert Series

The Bluegrass Anonymous Concert Series is a partnership between Bluegrass Anonymous

and Clarksville Parks & Recreation. Two free concert events will take place during the

Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 Regional Grant cycle: October 2018 and May 2019.

Lapping Park, a wooded 332-acre park in Clark County, Indiana will be the location where

the concerts will take place. Funding for this proposal will enable B.A. to compensate not

only local musicians but also attract regional or national touring acts.

Requested Amount: $3,000.00

Art Reach Project

Beginning in September of 2018 the Art Reach Project will provide the opportunity for ten participants, each month, at thirteen facilities, to work, play, learn and participate in the joy and benefits of art. Each participant will have access to Artist brushes, paint, gesso, disposable palettes and two canvas’ each month. At start of project, a Visual Artist will give instruction in basic Painting Techniques, Composition, Perspective, Color Value, and the different Styles and Genres of art to each participant. The exploration of art and self-expression is encouraged.

Requested Amount: $10.110.00

Cloud Art/Ebru

This project is to introduce fun ways for art to be part of a child’s learning process.  If art is presented in small stages as a child goes through elementary school they may enjoy learning more in middle school and high school. With the hope that the child will want to learn more as they get older. I will meet with the classes 3 times, the first time will explain our project and the second meeting we will do the project, then the last meeting the project will be given out and a survey taken.

Requested Amount: $2,150.00

Discover Drama: Resilience, A Pilot with Bullitt Alternative Center

CTC wishes to pilot a transformative, theatre-based residency program designed to build emotional resilience for approximately 39 teen students enrolled at Bullitt Alternative Center in September 2018, including 33 males and 6 female students.

“Discover Drama: Resilience,” a research-based, drama-infused program created by CTC’s professional Teaching Artists, will focus exclusively on teens at Bullitt Alternative Center and provide valuable skills to the youth who have experienced ACEs while yielding valuable data to guide further development of the program.

The males and females will be divided into three separate groups by gender to allow for exploration into the roles that masculinity and femininity have played in their lives from an early age as well as the different societal pressures imposed on each gender, all of which feed into the negative effects of ACEs. To allow for a more open discussion within the male groups, the CTC team planning the pilot will train two diverse male Teaching Artists to lead the two male teen groups in their residencies.

The overarching goals of the residency include using theatre exercises in the following ways:

• To increase emotional literacy

• Build self-esteem

• Better understand stress and trauma triggers

• Develop an arsenal of positive coping mechanisms

• Define resilience and draw inspiration from resilient characters throughout history and pop culture

• Through an understanding of brain science, learn how resilience can be taught and used to stave off the negative effects of ACEs on personal health

Reaching diverse groups is a top priority in ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the program’s potential. In order to best develop “Discover Drama: Resilience,” CTC wishes to pilot the program at more than one site. CTC determined that Bullitt Alternative Center would be a great fit for a male teen-centered pilot. When Bullitt Alternative Center expressed interest and mentioned that they also served teen girls, CTC was excited to work with that group, too. In April 2018, CTC will begin a pilot of “Discover Drama: Resilience” to upper elementary school students at Bellewood School, a project made possible by a generous 2017 grant award from Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 to Bellewood. CTC also plans to pilot “Discover Drama: Resilience” to teen female students at Maryhurst in fall 2018. Based upon data gathered from the pilots, CTC plans to take “Discover Drama: Resilience” to scale in 2019, potentially engaging thousands of youth in Greater Louisville.

Requested Amount: $8,500.00

Community Montessori Public Charter School "Casa Dei Curiosity" Building Expansion

This grant will help create a space for our public charter school to Cultivate Creativity, Actualize Talent, Showcase Courage, and Achieve Dignity – the CASA dei Curiosity. This will be a dedicated addition of approximately 5,000 to 7,000 square feet for our learners to experience dynamic artistic activities in an environment created specifically to support our Montessori philosophy of participatory courageous learning.  Visit www.shiningminds.com/donate to view a video about the needs and goals of our project.

For eight years, our school has been committed and creative in finding ways to support talented learners in their developmental drive to transition to adulthood through our teen’s program. In some other schools these opportunities for growth take place in formal, competitive arts and theater programs. OUR SCHOOL IS UNIQUE. Our teens lead by creating performances and projects, discovering new learning opportunities, and through this process they make decisions, and the adults follow their lead.

Our teen program functions differently than in a typical public school curriculum. While we are an accredited high school awarding diplomas as a public school, we have additional requirements that must be fulfilled by the learners during their four-year process of acquiring credits. We place a heavy emphasis on practical application of knowledge and real world experiences. We also value the role of the arts and especially theater performance in allowing learners to “try on new hats” learn about themselves and others, and accomplish challenging tasks and goals through these real life experiences.   

It is primarily through the growth of our teen-led theater program the Community Players that many of the activities we propose to host in our new CASA have grown. Even though this is the emphasis of this request, this is just one group and type of activity which can take place in our new space which will also provide an opportunity for large group presentations, like our project exhibitions where learners present their work to peers, parents and the community from either a semester or an entire year’s work – which often include some type of fine arts work within the design to demonstrate their learning. These expanding programs are currently taking place in our 5,000 square foot Multipurpose Activity Center (gymnasium style space). This space is not appropriately equipped acoustically, and does not have any built in sound or lighting capability.  Additionally, the activities taking place there limit availability for use for the originally envisioned fitness and health activities – the space is in constant use throughout the school year.

Requested Amount: $10,000.00

Jamey Abersold Jazz Quartet on the bandstand on the square in Corydon

Harrison County, including the county seat of Corydon, is a veritable JAZZ desert.  Currently, no opportunities exist for Harrison County residents to hear quality jazz music.  This project will provide the opportunity for people of all ages to attend a high quality performance by Jamey Abersold’s jazz quartet on the bandstand on the square in downtown Corydon.  Jamey Abersold is internationally known as a jazz master. This will also provide a local opportunity for students enrolled in High School jazz classes and groups to experience live jazz.

Requested Amount: $1,000.00

Seeds of CONNECTion

In honor of a milestone 10th annual CONNECT, Bernheim is looking to commission United Kingdom artist Ashley Peevor, to educate and engage Greater Louisville with the creation of his living costumes, fondly referred to as Grassmen. Part-sculpture and part-performance, Grassmen is a body of work that involves carefully crafted living costumes made from grass, flowers, and other flora. Peevor has created, refined, and developed a system that allows for grass, flowers, and other flora to be grown from a membrane system feeding them nutrients and water as required. This system later allows grass to be constructed into a fully three dimensional, malleable costume that continues to live and grow once constructed.

As a way to promote engagement with the CONNECT event, Peevor will establish residence at Bernheim and conduct a series of workshops in which participants will learn about the cultivation of living sculpture through seed growing. The workshops provide an opportunity for the public to support the artist in the design and construction of his Grassmen while also enabling participants to create their own grass masks. These workshops will open participants’ eyes to the unique potential for combining living art with nature specific to this region. These learning experiences will culminate in a collective performance of artist and workshop participants during the CONNECT event. Through an embrace of the absurd and a hint of mysticism, the CONNECT audience also becomes part of the spectacle of the Grassmen. Touch and smell become integral parts of the experience from the tactile nature of the work in addition to the movement and visual nature of the Grassmen.

Seeds of CONNECTion not only fulfills Bernheim’s mission of Connecting People to Nature, but also provides the experience of connecting people to one other through the lens of art. In addition, this project will allow Bernheim the opportunity to explore potential options for future reductions in transportation barriers for residents of urban communities where nature is not always accessible.

Seeds of CONNECTion will ultimately transform a world class event into a world class experience.

Requested Amount: $7,500.00

Acting Out

Acting Out is a professional, touring theater program that performs educational and socially relevant musical productions to open minds one act at a time. Acting Out’s age-appropriate performances provide direct and indirect learning opportunities to increase student engagement, enrich learning experiences, shape ideas and understanding of the world and students’ place in it. Productions fulfill three Arts and Humanities Core Curriculum Content.

In 2018/19, Acting Out is working to secure the rights to two shows. How I Became a Pirate is a story of adventure and finding one’s own heart – a path that cannot be found on any treasure map. The young character enthusiastically goes on a pirate adventure and he quickly learns what he likes and doesn’t like about the “job” of pirate. He learns that buccaneers don’t bother with manners or bedtimes, which is just fine with him, but it also means no bedtime stories or being tucked in. He also tries to teach the pirates to play soccer, but “pirates never play by the rules.” Lesson plans that accompany the performance will include Proper Manners or Pirate Manners, Following Rules and Taking Turns, How to Avoid a Pirate’s Green Teeth and Why Don’t Pirates Eat Their Vegetables.

Acting Out also plans to perform Nora’s Ark, a modern story based on “the ark” story that we all know, set to jazz music. This show is a light-hearted yet cautionary tales with critically important messages of global warming, cooperation, freedom and survival. With the curriculum that Acting Out will develop, these themes will open up classroom discussion to historical events and good stewardship of interpersonal relationships and the environment.

For many years, Kathy DeLozier, St. Nicholas Academy’s Principal has brought Acting Out into her school.  She said, “I want to create in children a sense of empathy and that the world is bigger than them.  Acting Out performances are thought provoking and promote classroom discussions. Acting Out shows fits the bill, providing universal themes that help build a capacity of compassion.”

Requested Amount: $5,000.00

Shakespeare Tour to All Clark County Elementary Schools

Kentucky Shakespeare proposes to bring arts programming to all twelfth Greater Clark County Elementary Schools in 2018: Bridgepoint, Jonathan Jennings, Maple, New Washington, Northaven. Parkwood, Pleasant Ridge, Riverside, Spring Hill, Thomas Jefferson, Utica, and Wilson Elementary Schools.

The programs would be Kentucky Shakespeare’s 2-actor educational production of THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, an interactive workshop performance in which our artist educators perform the classic Shakespeare play, directly tied to core content/academic standards.  Through this interactive live theatre experience, students will explore elements of plot, story and character, conflict resolution and healthy relationships, and relate the universal themes of Shakespeare to themselves and the world around them.

Requested Amount: $6,600.00

Imagine 2020 Concert Series

The Imagine 2020 Concert Series is a partnership between the Louisville Federation of Musicians and

the four regional county Public Libraries: Bullitt, Oldham, Shelby and Floyd. A series of at least 4 concerts will be produced in 2018. The concerts will take place at the four counties Public Library locations. Efforts will be made to align music performances with topical calendar and programmatic themes (i.e. The Kentucky Library Association has made the 2018 Summer Reading Program theme ‘Music’). Concerts will take place at time and date that best suits the needs of the host library. The number of performers could vary depending on the size of the ensemble. It’s possible that two or more acts could be presented at each concert or two concerts could be schedule at a given library. Musicians will be compensated at standard wage scale.

Requested Amount: $4,000.00

NouLou&YOUth!

NouLou&YOUth! is a collaborative project between the Louisville Youth Orchestra and NouLou Chamber Players to bring free, quality educational chamber music programs to six Kentucky counties surrounding Jefferson County.  The LYO’s newly developed Master Chamber Artist Project has proven highly successful during FY’18 with six small ensembles (quartets through septets) coached and mentored by the professional musicians of the NouLou Chamber Players (many of whom are Louisville Orchestra musicians) on a regular basis.  The expertise of these groups is evident in that two of these ensembles were awarded 1st and 2nd place in this years’ high school division of the CMS Louisville Macauley Chamber Music Competition.  These groups cover a wide range of instrumentation including winds, brass, and strings and offer a “something for everyone” approach.  The musical selections include standard classic chamber music to modern music and jazz.  These youth ensembles are ready and eager to present performances throughout the area.  NouLou&YOUth! will allow these ensembles (in conjunction with their professional counterparts) to offer free one hour concerts at the following public libraries – Lebanon Junction, Eminence, LaGrange, Shelbyville, Taylorsville and Bedford.  Pre-concert educational discussion with both NouLou Chamber Players members and LYO members will be offered about the composers, music and historical facts of the time.  Post-concert activities will include a “youth chat” dedicated to youth audience members having the opportunity to engage with their peers presenting onstage as well as a youth reception.  NouLou&YOUth! will actively target schools and retirement communities as well as the general public.  The libraries involved will use this opportunity to engage individuals not already participating in the scholastic, educational and literary activities of this important community mainstay.

Requested Amount: $6,000.00

GENERATION MAKER

Few would disagree that STEAM-educated workers are vital to advancing innovative ideas and a thriving economy. States that have had the biggest increases in employment in the last decade have also seen healthy gains in their STEAM workforces (http://www.economicmodeling.com/2011/09/20/where-are-stem-jobs-concentrated/).

Through Maker Mobile’s trailer, students can learn using 3D printers, laser cutters, and other Computer Numerical Control (CNC) equipment. Maker Mobile, Inc. encourages students to creatively apply their skill they have learned to real-world issues addressed in today’s workforce while creating innovative solutions to current problems in the workforce.

Today’s students are under increasing demands to develop skills in science, math and technology so they will be prepared for the jobs of the future. With a lack of lab space and equipment at many schools and tighter budgets limiting field trips, students need more opportunities outside of the classroom to learn skills and equipment that will make them marketable to companies using similar equipment. Maker Mobile, Inc. has created a mobile art, science, engineering and innovation lab that can reach thousands of students in a year to specifically meet this need.

Maker Mobile, Inc.’s 32-foot long Maker trailer offers students access to 21st-century equipment like 3D printers, laser cutters, and other CNC equipment. The mobility of the trailer allows students in Southern Indiana to learn hard skills used in art, technology, engineering and design careers without leaving their communities, thus exposing more students to exciting and innovative career opportunities they may never have considered.

The “GENERATION MAKER” program provides STEAM education to students in grades K-5 through in-school visits in Clark and Floyd Counties. Through this one-year program we envision bringing skill-based learning 3D printing, woodworking, laser cut art, and design directly to students.

With Imagine 2020 funding, our goals for the next 12-months include:

1. Reach 30 schools and more than 10,000 students.   

2. Partner with Awkwardx2 to provide 3D art classes to students after school and during school breaks.

3. Connect students to companies seeking skilled workers on specific equipment taught on the Maker Mobile.

Requested Amount: $20,000.00

Kentuckiana Games Promotion

MBG proposes to use its current game in development, Pig Eat Ball, to help promote this region as a growing hub for video game development.  As Pig Eat Ball will be completed and available for international purchase in summer 2018, we proffer utilizing national and regional venues to highlight Pig Eat Ball’s release and readily highlight that the game was developed in southern Indiana.

Pig Eat Ball will receive great exposure with a presence at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle (PAX West).  This four-day show in early September attracts more than 70,000 gamers, developers with extensive media coverage. Through signage and one-on-one interaction, MBG staff will inform consumers that Pig Eat Ball was developed in southern Indiana and that there is a thriving community of other hobbyists and developers in the region. Inevitably at these shows, there are also music composers, artist and designers who inquire about job opportunities; information about Warp Zone and Louisville Makes Games will be on hand to share with artists looking for employment in the field.

Locally, MBG will host a launch party for Pig Eat Ball’s release.  We have successfully hosted two other launch parties for other completed games: Serious Sam Double D Xbox release party held at Market Street Barbers (2013) and Finger Derpy release at Zanzabar (2015).  In addition to promoting our own game, we invited other local and regional developers to showcase their games at the parties.  In 2013, there were eight regionally-made games available for the community to play.  This was the first-time developers in the region (Bloomington, Southern Indiana, Louisville, Lexington, & Indianapolis) connected and met each other; this event spurred  huge growth in the regional, especially in Louisville.  Through media coverage from WDRB and Louisville Magazine, this was also the first time the community-at-large learned that video games were being made in the Kentuckiana region. In 2015, we needed a larger venue, as there were more than 22 games to play at the party; this jump in the quantity of quality games being made locally shows the tremendous growth that took place since the original pop-up arcade in 2013.  These events had hundreds of attendees. The 2018 Pig Eat Ball Launch Party/Pop-Up Arcade will take place in Clark or Floyd County.  We have not yet identified the ideal location for this party.  We will utilize previously established relationship to garner media coverage.

Requested Amount: $4,600.00

Operation Care Sheltered Child Enrichment Program

Operation Care operates three shelters for homeless women/children. Over the past 30 years, we have sheltered more than 2,000 people. Most of the women/children we shelter arrive escaping abuse. Until 2016, we focused primarily on helping sheltered women become self-sufficient. During that year, however, we began to place equal focus on enriching the lives of sheltered children. While we need supplemental funding to fully implement our Sheltered Child Enrichment Program, we have designed this program to addresses several priorities we share with the Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 plan:

• Access: Our plan addresses this priority by making arts, culture and creativity accessible to a marginalized population.

• Education: Our program is designed to provide financially disadvantaged, homeless children with experiences in arts and culture through participating in out-of-school tutoring and lessons in music and visual and performing arts.

• Equity, Diversity & Inclusivity: Our program will help provide social equity to a culturally diverse group of children whose families otherwise would be unable to afford out-of-school enrichment.

The Sheltered Child Enrichment Program currently has two components: tutoring we call “Homework Zone” and music education and enrichment classes. We hope to secure funding to include classes in visual and performing arts.

Experience teaches that homelessness often disrupts children’s lives even more profoundly than their mothers’ lives. We find that homeless children are all too often forced to grow up prematurely, deprived of their childhood and educational opportunities by having to become caregivers for their parents, younger siblings, and themselves. Most homeless children arrive at Operation Care with mothers who are unable to nurture or mentor them. In addition, most of the children we serve have little or no positive contact with their fathers or any other positive role models.

For these reasons, most of our sheltered children struggle physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. To address these struggles, we are committed to providing safe, age-appropriate out-of-school programming that exposes sheltered children to the therapeutic and enriching affects of arts, culture, and creativity.

Each of the three components of our Sheltered Child Enrichment Program aims to provide the same type of quality out-of-school activities that children may receive when their families have sufficient resources. We recognize that homeless children are at risk of falling behind their peers and developing behavioral problems as a reaction to the trauma that led their mothers to seek shelter at Operation Care, and we hope to fully implement this program to address the inequities their domestic situations create.

As noted in other sections of this grant request, given sufficient funding, Operation Care hopes to expand this program to offer out-of-school tutoring and arts enrichment not only to our sheltered children but also to other underserved youth in Shelby County.

Requested Amount: $20,800.00

World Music

The aim of this project is to educate local children and youth on cultures around the world in order to break down cultural barriers. This aim will be accomplished by developing a World Music program for children and youth between the ages of 7and 14 years old. The project will be a series of six classes that will educate children on various cultures around the world through their traditions, types of food, styles of music, and varieties of instruments. Each of the six classes will focus on a region of the world and will explore various cultures within that region. The six regions will be Africa, Europe, Latin America, The Caribbean, Asia, and The Middle East. These regions each have unique styles of music and a variety of instruments that are rooted within their culture. Our project will give children and youth an opportunity to learn about and identify with these cultures through music. They will be introduced to new instruments and engage in hands-on experiences. Each session will begin with a lesson introducing the region and providing information on cultures therein and their styles of music. During this time students will be introduced to traditional instruments from each region and have the opportunity to play them. The session will move into interactive activities including learning traditional dances and constructing their own instruments. Each session will also include a snack that is distinctive to the region. The six World Music sessions will be held in the Music Therapy Building at Personal Counseling Service. The Director of Music Therapy, Elayne Strecker, MT-BC, will direct the project. We will also utilize Music Therapy staff members and interns. It will take place during the first three weeks of July on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 5:30-6:30p.m. The six sessions will start on Monday, July 2, 2018 and go through Wednesday, July 18, 2018. Our budget will include advertising and recruiting, staff member compensation, purchasing instrument supplies, renting instruments, and food and beverages that are unique to each culture. We are going to recruit local children and youth by reaching out to our current clients, sending out press releases to the local newspaper, posting on our social media sites and printing out flyers. We will place flyers in elementary and middle schools and on community bulletin boards which include coffee shops, grocery stores, and libraries.

Requested Amount: $2,900.00

SCCT Academy Scholarship Program

SCCT’s  educational outreach programs have been a rewarding experience for many. Taught by experienced professional theatre educators, there is great interest in these classes by children, students, and adults.  However, the tuition we charge to cover instructor compensation, and our operating cost, are often prohibitive.  Within the next year, we will host 3 classes for adults and 4 for children (perhaps more!) We are seeking funding in the amount of $2500 for tuition to these classes for 25 individuals who would otherwise not be able to attend due to lack financial resource.

Requested Amount: $2,500.00

"I am an Artist"

The “I am an Artist” project proposed will start in August 2018, and end in May 2019 (the school year calendar). The purpose of this project is to offer high quality, educational and unusual art activities as after school activities for Shelby county students. The target group is Kindergarten – 5th grade. The workshops will be a different art experience once a month. This grant will provide the funds to engage artist, singer and author, Thomas Freese, to do a unique arts experience each month with the students. Mr. Freese will do storytelling one month, music, another month and a variety of art projects for all of the other months. Each session will be educational and interactive, with the students making their own art, experiencing music and movement and hearing Mr. Freese’s traditional stories and writing their own.

Requested Amount: $3,000.00

"Reach Out Shelbyville - Fulfilling the Mission"

Shelby Regional Arts Council has the mission to highlight, support, and educate our community in the arts. One of the central endeavors of SRAC is the operation of the “Dogwood Gallery”a place in the Shoppes of Blue Gables (a mini Mall in an urban renewal area of downtown Shelbyville at 8th & Main streets).  We are proud to be a part of the revitalization effort downtown and feel it has come a long way in one year. There is still a lot more work to be done and we are actively doing our part to promote the area as a cultural center for the community with the visual arts, community theater, history center and public library all within a few blocks. The SRAC’s project Dogwood Art Gallery & Gift Shop requires outside support to maintain its store front location. The gallery and the Shoppes of the Blue Gables are uniquely situated in a renovated historic area of downtown, however, foot traffic in and around the area is still quite limited. Fees collected for the sale of artwork, workshops, demonstrations and classwork do not cover as yet the costs of expenses. The project funds would help to cover the ongoing costs for housing the gallery, insurance, additional equipment, art supplies, installation of gallery lighting, internet connectivity, and marketing.

Requested Amount: $22,000.00

Feeding Minds with Art

The Empty Bowls program will be making 300 bowls and ill have artists, students, and any people interested in learning a skill and helping community to come together to make art in our classroom. At the end of completion of classes, the “bowls” will be used to auction at a charity dinner/function to raise money to help low income populations through Turn Around Resource Center.  We will have pottery shop open Wednesday, Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays. Mondays and Tuesday will be used for loading and firing kiln to produce and finalize the art product bowls. Hours will be from 12:00pm to 7:00pm. The program seeks a slab roller, extra pottery wheels to use to make bowls of different types and sizes. Artists will be allowed to make appointments for times to use the kiln and studio outside normal hours.  We will also use slab roller to make bowls for people who cannot get the hang of using the wheels. There will be a pottery teacher for the beginner students to teach them how to make a bowl, and after bowls are made, the pieces will be fired to bisque ware and set aside to be glazed. We will get artists and students to glaze and paint designs on their bowls, which will be than fired once again to be placed for donations for local art programs and program income. Items will be stored until the event. We plan to celebrate the culmination of classes with a fundraising dinner, where the people who donated will come in and pick their bowls off the tables at the day of event, and will auction a few bowls of well-known artists before the dinner.  The core purpose of Empty Bowls is to raise funds for local food charities and educate people around issues of poverty and hunger who their community. Small Town Gallery will have speakers come in and explain what all goes into making the pottery and time spend getting them ready.  The core of the event is a supper where, for a donation, guests choose a bowl and to fill it with soup. They then will sit down among the other guests, eat their soup, and learn a little about how their donation has helped to fill the truly empty bowls of people less fortunate in their community. The bowls are theirs to keep and, in some circles, become real collectors’ items.

Requested Amount: $4267.86

Anti-Ableism Puppetry Programs in Greater Louisville Area Schools

South Central Kentucky Kids on the Block wants $3,732 to hold 12 educational puppetry programs on inclusion promoting programs, particularly anti-ableism programs, at Kentucky elementary schools in the Greater Louisville area, serving a total of 2,400 children – a cost of only about $1.56 per ‘ticket’.

KOB will travel to one elementary school per listed Kentucky county, and perform two of our educator and psychologist developed puppetry programs there. In accordance with Imagine Greater Louisville 2020’s interest in promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion, albeit not according to your specific strategy, they will have the ability to choose between our programs related to various physical, emotional, and intellectual challenges: Accepting Physical Challenges (with a special focus on Spina Bifida and Cerebral Palsy), Diabetes, Autism, Mental Health (which in addition to helping children identify and understand mental health problems, also helps them understand Depression and ADHD), and Accepting Differences (with a special focus on Down Syndrome and blindness). They will also be able to choose our Bullying and School Safety program, as bullying is detrimental to the creation of an inclusive atmosphere in schools.

Our programs are held at the schools in question, and are designed such that kids feel as if the puppets were real children. Each program includes audience participation, such as question and answer, as well as offering solutions to the puppets’ problems.

In the event we cannot find a school in a given county that will accept our program, we will reassign that program to a school in another county.

Requested Amount: $3732.00

In My Community

The “In My Community” project will involve working with 5th-7th grade members of the Griffin Community Recreation Center in New Albany, Indiana, to select and create paper collages of people or places in the community that give them a sense of personal pride. The primary purpose of the project is to teach the youth a skill that they may choose to continue pursuing in their future and to encourage the youth to achieve in the field of their choice and become productive citizens. Another purpose of the project is to integrate the arts and heritage/history into the everyday lives of the young people as well as the New Albany community. The members frequenting the Griffin Community Recreation Center will have a constant reminder in the paper collages of a heritage that they can be proud of. The youth will be taught to create a paper collage by learning the techniques of paint color mixing (white paper will be painted and torn into pieces), shading, shadowing, cutting paper, projection and scaling to size. Two collages will be completed and framed by July 26th, when their summer program ends. As the Artist-in-Residence I propose to work with one class twice a week from 2-3:30 pm for a total of 4 weeks.

Requested Amount: $3450.00

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