The Arts Council of Mendocino County has awarded $31,960 to Mendocino County artists to provide arts enrichment in the schools in the 2013-2014 school year. This year marks the 9th year of funding for grants to artists through the Arts Council’s Get Arts in the Schools Program (GASP). Twenty (20) artists were awarded grants for programs taking place in 35 schools throughout Mendocino County. There is no cost to schools for participation in the program. Funding for (GASP) comes from the Mendocino County Office of Education, with additional support from The Community Foundation of Mendocino County, The Mayer and Morris Kaplan Family Foundation and Barra of Mendocino. The program is administered by the Arts Council of Mendocino County.

Each year, the Arts Council awards grants to professional artists in support of residences and workshops in Mendocino County schools during the school year. These programs infuse the arts in schools’ core curricula and bring quality educational, curriculum-based artistic experiences to K-12 classrooms. Professional artists receive paid opportunities to share their expertise with students while educators benefit through exposure to current techniques in arts practice.

Grants made to professional Mendocino County artists include the following:

Alexa Armenta Baldwin, Grass is Green & Flowers Bloom (multidisciplinary), $2,087.50 – Nokomis Elementary Afterschool Program, Pomolita Middle School; Anne Beck & Dietmar Krumrey of Lost Coast Culture Machine, The Process & Practice of Handmade Paper (visual arts), $3,020 – Dana Gray Elementary, Fort Bragg Middle School, Manchester Union Elementary, Noyo High School, Three Rivers Charter School; Dorje Bond, River Running with Fish (textiles), $1,350 – Branscomb Elementary; Tessa Crawford, Graphic Arts Workshop (multidisciplinary), $1,550 – Accelerated Achievement Academy, Ukiah Independent Study; Viviana Field, Web of Life – Local Wildlife Study (multidisciplinary), $1,563 – Frank Zeek Elementary; Katie Gibbs, Birds of a Feather…Fly (sculpture), $1,440 – Oak Manor Elementary; Jessi Langston, Evolutionary Rock Band (performing arts-music), $1,400 – Whale Gulch School; Jacquie Lolich, Paper Sculpture Papier Mache (visual arts), $790 – Oak Manor Elementary; Cathleen Micheaels, Book Making/Where the Wild Things Are/Arts Across the Curriculum (multidisciplinary), $4,578 – Comptche School, Arena Union Elementary, Anderson Valley Elementary & Middle Schools; Blake More & Bryn Elizan Harris, Community Action through Theatre (multidisciplinary-theatre); $2,775 – Pacific Community Charter School, Redwood Elementary Afterschool Program, Dana Gray Elementary, Redwood Academy; Blake More, Multimedia Poetry (multidisciplinary), $1,332.50 – Pacific Community Charter High School, Point Arena High, Ukiah GATE Program, Ukiah High; Marie Pera, Numbers, Angles & Artists/Color, Form & Design (visual arts), $2,207.50 – Brookside Elementary, Yokayo Elementary, Potter Valley Elementary; Elizabeth Raybee, Mosaic Pathway for Covelo School (mosaic & concrete casting); $1,315 – Round Valley Middle & High Schools; Janet Rayner, Enhancing the Core through Visual Arts (visual arts), $2,410 – Blosser Lane Elementary, Laytonville Elementary & Middle Schools, Willits Elementary Charter School; Amanda Rosenberg, Healthy Activities (performing arts-dance), $900 – Ukiah GRIP Program; Chris Skyhawk, Storytelling & Mythic Imagination (storyteller), $560 – Calpella Elementary, River Oak Charter School; Mimi Stoll, Interdisciplinary Workshop & Performance Immersion (performing arts-dance), $800 – Willits Kids Club; Karen Wallaert, Academic Themed Mural (visual arts), $800 – Nokomis Elementary; Laura Wiecek, Weaving, Origami & Book Art (multidisciplinary), $1,080 – Sherwood Elementary School.

The Arts Council is also pleased to announce the upcoming 2014 Professional Development Workshop for K-12 educators on August 7, 2014 from 8 am – Noon at the Community Center of Mendocino. Led by two artists selected for their excellence in integrating arts into the schools, participants will learn invaluable techniques for bringing the arts alive in any classroom setting.

For more information about GASP, contact Coordinator Paloma Patterson at gasp@mcn.org or call (707) 463-2727. Program information and news can be found on the Arts Council’s website at ArtsMendocino.org