By Karina Martinez-CarterThe Daily Northwestern
An art therapist who works with HIV/AIDS and domestic violence agencies, a gymnasium where actors learn circus skills and a peace foundation are three of the 13 recipients of Evanston’s 2007 cultural fund grants.
The grants, announced at the end of April, totaled more than $40,000. The Evanston Arts Council and the City of Evanston’s Cultural Arts Division gave the awards to 12 different nonprofit organizations and one artist, said Jeff Cory, Cultural Arts/Arts Council Director. Twenty-one artists and organizations applied for the grants.
Art Encounter, 927 Noyes St., which focuses on community outreach programs, received $2,500 this year. Joanna Pinsky, founder and artistic director, said the grant will fund a program called “Hats Off to Art” involving retirement home residents in several different projects, including creating an artistic hat.
“The project we are working on will help to create more community for the elderly,” Pinsky said. “It will also help people to get to know each other in a real positive light and bring art to people who have a more difficult time getting out to cultural events.”
Last year, the organization used its grant for an arts program for adults who were learning or practicing English as a second language.
“The grants have been particularly valuable in helping us initiate new programs and sustain some old ones, too,” Pinsky said. “The Arts Council is a changing group of people, but we’ve been fortunate in receiving support from them and we’re very grateful.”
Art Encounter has been a longstanding grant recipient because of its ability to reach a number of demographics, Pinsky said.
“We’re reaching artists, bringing the community together through intergenerational programs and bringing art to people from other places in terms of artistic journeys,” she said.
The Shanti Foundation for Peace, 917 Fowler Ave., was one of two organizations to receive the maximum $4,000 grant. The foundation will use the money to cover organizational expenses, said Indira Johnson, Shanti’s executive director. The foundation has received grants in the past, although it did not apply for one in 2006.
“We have a lot of services donated, but we obviously have certain expenses,” she said. “Whenever we get a grant that’s not earmarked, it’s really helpful because it’s easier to get program grants than organizational ones.”
The foundation does about 40 percent of its work in Evanston and the remainder in the Chicago area, Johnson said. The foundation led an Evanston community project to create a drawing in Fountain Square. It hires artists from different disciplines to work in schools, including Evanston/Skokie School District 65, to help students create art that coincides with what they learn in class.
Peace is taught through the process of creating the art, Johnson said, whether it is visual or performance art.
“I think we have established a certain record of the kind of work we do,” Johnson said. “I think what has been favorable for us is that we are constantly trying to improve.”
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