Georgia Council for the Arts [Aug. 2016]

GCA Newsletter - August 2016 Click here to view this email in your browser.



GCA Newsletter / August 2016



Dance Canvas, Atlanta, GA
GCA Announces Partner, Project, and Arts Education Grants for FY17
This month Georgia Council for the Arts announced the recipients of its Partner, Project, Arts Education and literary arts grant funding for fiscal year 2017. One hundred and one organizations throughout the state were collectively awarded more than $913 thousand in funding. Funding for operating support (Partner Grant) was awarded to 54 organizations across the state, support for arts projects (Project Grant) was awarded to 25 organizations, 20 organizations received the Arts Education Program Grant and two organizations received funding for the delivery of statewide literary arts programs. Funds awarded by Georgia Council for the Arts include appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. The full list of FY17 grantees is available here.

Cover Image from "Inspired Georgia"
Georgia Council for the Arts Announces New Book, "Inspired Georgia"
Georgia Council for the Arts, in partnership with UGA Press, ACP and Georgia Humanities, recently announced a new book celebrating Georgia artists. Entitled "Inspired Georgia," the volume is a unique collection of Georgia's contemporary poets and photographers that engages the history and culture of the state, while serving as a document of some of the best and most powerful pieces penned by Georgia poets and images shot by Georgia photographers in recent years. Read the full story here.

Governor's Awards for the Arts and Humanities 2015
GCA Introduces Council Members
Georgia Council for the Arts is pleased to begin a new series for our newsletter. In an effort to help GCA constituents get to know our Council members, each newsletter will feature a brief Q&A with two-three members of the Council. This month we are featuring Marleen De Bode Olivie and Dr. Elizabeth Delancy, our newest Council member.
Marleen De Bode Olivie Columbus, GA
Tell us about yourself in a few short sentences: Although I have a business background, I always have been interested in art, design and architecture. Growing up in Europe and being surrounded by it, it almost feels part of my DNA. Over the years my interest became more focused on contemporary visual art, public art and education. Currently, I am the president of the Board of the Columbus Museum, member and past chair of Friends of Art of Columbus State University and a Board member of SITE Santa Fe.
Earliest personal memory of an impactful experience in the arts: My earliest, most impactful experience was on a school trip to Italy at the age of 16 and seeing Michelangelo's David at the Accademia Gallery in Florence. The memory is still very vivid and it really triggered a lifelong love for the arts.

Aurora Theatre, Lawrenceville, GA
Vibrant Communities Grant Guidelines Available
The Vibrant Communities grant will fund arts projects in counties in which no organization received an FY17 GCA Project or Partner Grant. The complete list of eligible counties is available in the guidelines. This grant will fund programs such as performances, exhibits, residencies, workshops, festivals, etc. Basic information about Vibrant Communities includes:
The grant is open to any nonprofit, government entity, library or school Applicants may request $1,000-$5,000 The grant requires a 50% cash match The deadline to apply is August 31, 2016 The project must be completed by June 1, 2017
To accompany the guidelines, GCA put together a list of artists and arts organizations that have programs for which a community could request support. Both the guidelines and the artist list can be found here. GCA will offer a Vibrant Communities training webinar on Wednesday, August 17 at 1:00 P.M. To register, click here. If you cannot participate in the webinar, a recording will be available on the GCA website. If you have questions, please contact Tina Lilly at tlilly@gaarts.org or 404-962-4827.

What is your message for supporting the arts: "Art Saves Lives!!!" Our Muscogee County School District Superintendent David Lewis said this at the ground breaking of the arts academy in Columbus. To me, this sums it all up.
Elizabeth Delancy, PhD, MFA Albany, GA
Tell us about yourself in a few short sentences: I am the Program Coordinator/Assistant Professor of Dance at Darton State College (Albany State University). I earned a BA in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University, and an MFA in Dance and a PhD in Humanities from Florida State University. I interned and dance professionally with Urban Bush Women.
Earliest personal memory of an impactful experience in the arts: I will always remember my kindergarten art teacher saying, "Be careful with the India ink. It will make a permanent stain." He was teaching me to paint bamboo stalks in my art class in the Department of Defense School in Yokohama, Japan. The picture won an award and was framed and displayed at the school. Since returning to the US that piece has hung in my parents' living room.
What is your message for supporting the arts: "To develop a complete mind: Study the science of art; Study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else." -- Leonardo Da Vinci The arts must be central in education, and not relegated to extra-curricular categorization. Art is a part of every aspect of life; especially science, technology, engineering and math.

Georgia Poetry Out Loud Champ, Marta Palombo, Milton, GA
Georgia Poetry Out Loud State Champ Places Second in National Finals
Georgia Council for the Arts recently announced the winner of the 2016 Poetry Out Loud state competition. Marta Palombo, a senior at Cambridge High School in Milton, Ga., took home the first place prize at the state finals. Marta represented Georgia at the national finals in Washington, D.C., May 2 4, where she placed second among all national competitors. Read the full story about the state finals here. A video of the state finals is available here. Photos and videos from the national finals are available here.
Poet Laureate Prize Winner and Finalists
Poet Laureate's Prize Winner and Finalists Announced
Georgia's Poet Laureate, Judson Mitcham, in collaboration with Georgia Council for the Arts, is pleased to announce the winner and finalists of the third annual Poet Laureate's Prize. The winner of the 2016 prize is Sherry Luo, a senior at Johns Creek High School, for her poem "The Hunting Trip." The prize is awarded for an original poem written by a Georgia high school student. The winner and four finalists were honored by Governor Deal, First Lady Sandra Deal, and Judson Mitcham at the Georgia State Capitol on May 12. Read the full story here. Click here to read the winning and finalist poems on Atlanta Magazine's website.

More Arts News and Opportunities

Rome Shakespeare Festival, Rome, GA
Reminder: FY16 Partner and Project Grant Final Reports Are Due
FY16 Partner and Project Grant Final Report deadlines have arrived. Partner Grant final reports were due by August 3, 2016. Project Grant final reports were due no later than 30 days after the completion of the project. Instructions and forms for the FY16 Final Report can be found here. Reports should not be submitted in e-Grant. If you have not submitted your FY16 Final Report, please do so as soon as possible.

The Georgia Department of Education is excited to announce that Jessica Booth has been hired as the full-time Fine Arts Program Specialist in the Curriculum and Instruction Division. Congratulations to Jessica and the DOE. This is a huge step forward for arts education and the arts in Georgia. One of their first resulting initiatives is the development of a STEAM Certification program for Georgia public schools.
This year the State Board of Education is evaluating the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) in Visual/Media Arts and Theatre Arts. Teachers have reviewed and provided recommendations for each Visual/Media Arts and Theatre Arts K-12 standard. Standards in Dance and Music will be reviewed next year. For additional information regarding the fine arts standards review process, visit the Georgia DOE's Fine Arts web page.

Thomasville Center for the Arts, Thomasville, GA
GCA Teaching Artist Registry Update and Expansion
In an effort to provide up-to-date resources to schools and organizations, and to help promote the work of our state's best teaching artists, Georgia Council for the Arts is updating and expanding our existing Teaching Artist Registry. Qualified teaching artists must be a resident of Georgia, must have a combination of training and experience in their field, must be available to work in schools and at organizations serving K-12 students, and must pass the requisite background check to work in a school environment. The updated Georgia Teaching Artist Registry will be available on the GCA website later this summer. If you have questions about the Registry, please reach out to Allen Bell, Arts Education Manager, at abell@gaarts.org.

Over the next few months, the Georgia Department of Education and partners will organize feedback sessions throughout the state to discuss changes to K-12 public education. With the passage and signing of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), there is an enormous opportunity to transfer power back to states and local schools and districts. During these feedback sessions, participants will be able to weigh in on everything from Georgia's accountability system (College and Career Ready Performance Index) and standardized testing, to arts learning and the essential elements of a wellrounded education. For more information, please contact essa@doe.k12.ga.us.
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution recently reported that the Georgia Department of Education will make available a Fine Arts Diploma Seal for high school graduates beginning this year. Participating students must successfully complete three courses in one of the fine arts subject areas -- dance, music, theater, visual arts, and media arts. They must also perform at least 20 hours of artsrelated community service. For more details, visit the Georgia DOE's Fine Arts web page.

Courtney Bryant with students at Drew Charter School
GCA and GOSA Develop STEAM Resources
Through the Innovation in Teaching Competition, the Governor's Office of Student Achievement, in cooperation with Georgia Council for the Arts, has recently released STEAM resources for teachers and schools. The Innovation in Teaching Competition recognizes and rewards Georgia educators who are using innovative strategies to advance student achievement. During this project-based learning unit, led by engineering and design teacher Courtney Bryant and teaching artist Jeff Mather, second graders tackle a real-world problem at their school designing and building a garden bench for Drew Charter School's TinkerYard. The full range of resources are available here.

Managed by National Endowment for the Arts, the Our Town grant program supports creative placemaking projects that help to transform communities into lively, beautiful, and resilient places. Creative placemaking includes projects where arts and culture are integrated into community revitalization work, placing the arts at the table with land use, transportation, economic development, education, housing, infrastructure, and public safety strategies. The application deadline for Our Town is September 12, 2016.
Congratulations to the Georgia arts organizations receiving grants from South Arts for FY17. South Arts announced $310,555 in grants to 73 arts organizations throughout their nine-state region. These grants, made possible through funding from National Endowment for the Arts, support organizations presenting out-of-state artists for public performances and educational activities.

Clay Fisher, Fulton County, GA
The Art of Georgia II: Portraits of a Community
The Office of the Governor, in partnership with Georgia Council for the Arts, is pleased to announce a call for entries for The Art of Georgia II: Portraits of a Community. This second iteration of the exhibit follows the inaugural Art of Georgia: Celebrating Georgia's Landscapes and People which exhibited 133 works by 95 Georgia artists over a two-year period from 20122014. The Art of Georgia II: Portraits of a Community seeks to capture the uniqueness of communities throughout Georgia as seen, explored, and depicted through the artist's eye. The current submission deadline is February 1, 2017, for artists in Northwest Georgia. Complete guidelines and the list of counties are available here.

According to a new story in Education Week, studying music helps accelerate cognitive development, particularly the auditory, speech, and languageprocessing abilities, of young children. The research results represent an early set of findings from a five-year longitudinal study conducted by researchers with the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, in partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and the Heart of Los Angeles, a community center.
In another recent study, this one covered by Pacific Standard, Belgian researchers reported that 9 to 12year-old students who take regular music lessons display "enhanced cognitive inhibitory control" compared to a group of same-age peers. The study, published by the journal Musicae Scientiae, adds to the large body of research demonstrating the cognitive benefits of musical training.

Copyright 2016 Georgia Council for the Arts, All rights reserved.
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