Windgate Foundation Awards 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock More Than $3 Million in Grants for Art Outreach, Art Acquisition, and Children International Education and Outreach Efforts
A group of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Children International students display their denim artwork during an Art in Action Camp taught by Lorria Eubanks of A Different Stroke of Art.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has received more than $3 million in grants from the to support art education at the university, acquisition of art from working artists for 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 permanent art collection, and support of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Children International鈥檚 education and outreach programs.
鈥淭hese three grants from the Windgate Foundation will go a long way to support art education and outreach programs in our community,鈥� said Chancellor Christina Drale. 鈥淲e are thankful to the Windgate Foundation for their continued dedication to artists, art educators, and students across the state.鈥�
Windgate鈥檚 first grant will provide $1.56 million for 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Children International, which serves approximately 2,100 children and youth in central Arkansas. The first $1.5 million will create an endowed fund to cover operational expenses. Children International will receive $60,000 as a bridge grant to use in the next year.
鈥淲e are impressed by the efforts of the hard-working staff of Children International to provide education and outreach activities for children in the Little Rock School District,鈥� said Pat Forgy, executive director of the Windgate Foundation. 鈥淚鈥檇 encourage others to consider supporting their work to help children become healthy, educated, and self-reliant. There is so much more Children International could accomplish with additional help from the community.鈥�
Now in its 27th year, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Children International offers a variety of school- and community-based programs, including after-school and summer programming, cooking classes, emergency food assistance, and college preparation and career training.
鈥淲e鈥檙e grateful for the continued support of the Windgate Foundation,鈥� said Ryan Davis, director of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Children International. 鈥淭his endowed fund will allow us to plan further, dig deeper, and reach higher in our work with children and youth in central Arkansas鈥�
The second grant provides $1 million to create an endowed art acquisition fund. The funding will be divided equally, with $500,000 going to acquire contemporary craft art from living artists and the other $500,000 to acquire art from living artists.
鈥淭he Windgate Foundation has been a champion of the gallery program for 10 years,鈥� said Brad Cushman, director of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Gallery Program. 鈥淭heir financial support of exhibition programming and acquisitions began in 2011. The Windgate Foundation has granted acquisition funding to major museums and art institutions across the country. They have certainly put the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Gallery Program and Permanent Collection in prestigious company.鈥�
With this grant, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock will acquire more art for the university鈥檚 permanent art collection, which holds over 1,700 items, and provide a broader range of exhibits for the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Gallery Program.
鈥淲indgate鈥檚 support has allowed us to bring more contemporary craft into the collection,鈥� Cushman said. 鈥淭heir support has also helped us to diversify the voices represented in the collection to include more women, Black, Hispanic/Latino, LGBTQ, and other artists.鈥�
Additionally, Windgate has awarded 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock a multi-year additional support grant for the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Art Outreach Program. Windgate originally awarded 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock a grant of more than $750,000 in November 2018 to establish a series of educational art workshops for Arkansas high school students and art teachers.
Woodworking Professor Peter Scheidt assists visiting art educator Loni Rainey as she builds a small Shaker table during the artWAYS furniture and woodworking program in the Windgate Center of Art and Design. Photo by Ben Krain.
The additional $470,713 grant will continue to support art education outreach efforts for high school students and art teachers in Arkansas through December 2024. The final payment for 2023 is contingent upon an increase of students in 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 Art and Design Department.
鈥淲e appreciate the opportunity that the Windgate Foundation has given the department,鈥� said Tom Clifton, chair of the Department of Art and Design. 鈥淪haring our expertise with the community of art teachers has been an incredibly fulfilling experience for the department faculty. We鈥檙e looking forward to providing more programming and meeting new participants in the future.鈥�
糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock was unable to hold the high school student visits and workshops for K-12 art educators during summer 2020 due to the pandemic. With social distancing procedures in place, the Department of Art and Design continued programming this summer with seven week-long workshops for art educators from across the state.
Faculty members Kevin Cates, Jeremy Couch, Joli Livaudais, and Peter Scheidt taught workshops on drawing, graphic design, painting, photography, and woodworking. Art Outreach Specialist Andrea Tompkins reports more than 50 teachers from 33 Arkansas schools attended the workshops and earned 30 hours of professional development credit each.
In summer 2022, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock plans to offer two camps for art educators and one camp for highly motivated high school students who are considering majoring in the visual arts. The workshops are free to high school students and art teachers. The Windgate grant will cover on-campus housing, meals, supplies, and instructional materials.
In the upper photo, a group of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Children International students display their denim artwork during an Art in Action Camp taught by Lorria Eubanks of A Different Stroke of Art.
