Decade of grassroots arts funding : the power of community collaboration

The Power of Community Collaboration
A Decade of Grassroots Arts Funding

"The Grassroots Arts Program has been a tremendous asset to the state of Georgia. Through investing in our local communities, we send a message that the arts are important in the development of tourism, business and the enrichment of the human experience. Each of these stories gives us a glimpse into how the arts can change lives and an idea of how we can use the arts as a tool to strengthen our Georgia communities."
Governor Sonny Perdue

What is the Grassroots Arts Program?

Since 1993, the Georgia General Assembly has appropriated funds to ensure that citizens in each of Georgia's 159 counties have access to state funded arts activities. The Georgia Council for the Arts directs the Grassroots Arts Program (GAP) through a decentralized statewide network of local re-granting agencies. The purpose of GAP is to serve a broad range of residents, especially populations that have been historically underserved.
The GAP Program allows local decision making on arts funding.
Half of the funds available are divided evenly among the state's counties and half are distributed on a per capita county basis. GAP is intended to provide seed money for community-based arts

events and activities, not instruction or school based projects and classes. Partnerships and collaborations between arts and non-arts organizations (civic, human service, religious, business, etc.) are encouraged in an effort to foster arts programs in underserved areas, and to implement projects that expand understanding about the role of the arts in addressing local community concerns.
The Georgia General Assembly initially appropriated $200,000 to launch the program. Thirty-six agencies were identified to administer the program around the state (mostly arts councils, one regional development center, one state college art department, and the cultural affairs division of several parks and recreation departments). The program has now grown to nearly $600,000 in appropriated funds. Each agency develops plans for local fund distribution and establishes a decision-making process and policy according to GCA guidelines.

Goals of GAP Program
To provide every county arts funding especially small, traditionally underserved, isolated communities
To decentralize decision making about how money is spent (people who know their communities decide what's needed and what's funded)
To encourage multi-county arts funding
To build partnerships between arts and non-arts agencies to address broad community concerns with arts programming
To diversify and expand arts audiences

The Project

A statewide taskforce was formed in order to develop a plan to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Georgia Grassroots Arts Program (GAP). This was an opportunity to highlight the importance of GAP and what it has helped numerous communities across the state accomplish. The objectives were clear...honor those in the "trenches" who have administered the program and their community partners; illustrate the value of these small but powerful arts grants as seed money for sustainable community projects; create something tangible that would serve as a learning tool focusing on the role of the arts in community and economic development; and create a systematic way to share testimony, best practices and information.

All GAP agencies were asked to submit their grantees' stories and a panel was assembled to choose stories based on: Partnership or collaboration between the GAP agency and other arts/non-arts agency; citizen involvement; racial and cultural diversity; and traditionally underserved or neglected audience involvement. Stories were also chosen based on the art event's

affect on areas of community concern such as attitudes in the community, social structures and relations, governance or policies, economic development, or other areas that affect the environment and health of the community. The stories listed here are merely examples of what a small amount of money can accomplish in Georgia communities.

GAP Funding supports community development through encouraging partnerships between arts organizations, service clubs, schools, civic groups, churches, scout troops, libraries and other organizations.

Clayton county citizens show they have no limitations in the arts

The Clayton Center Behavioral Health Services formed the "Citizens With No Boundaries" Dance Troupe. These exceptional individuals have disabilities that include epilepsy, cerebral palsy, profound mental retardation and mental illness, but that doesn't stop them from dancing the day away! As part of the Community Support Services branch's goal to integrate disabled citizens into the community, thirty citizens travel to the Dance With Donna Webb studio in Jonesboro to practice their dance steps. The weekly dance lessons spawned an annual formal cotillion which began in 2000.

In 2003, the troupe performed alongside students at the Clayton County Public School's Performing Arts Center. Dancing to tunes such as "Mama Africa" and "Proud Mary", the group
Embrace proved to more than four
hundred audience members that they indeed had no boundaries. Even sign language was included as part of a dance routine to "Lord, I Lift Your Name." Despite stage fright and two seizures during the dress rehearsal, the performance went off without a hitch. The organization was commended for providing this program by a team that recently reviewed Clayton Center for it's national accreditation, because the groups regular access to the community "benefits the acceptance of people into the community, and removal of stigma."

our differences

Celebrate

A festival highlights Hispanic culture in Tift County

La Fiesta Pueblo began eight years ago in Omega, Georgia. A group of Hispanic and

Latino Girl Scout Troops and a small team of citizens organized a full-day Hispanic

festival aimed at increasing community awareness, understanding and respect for

Hispanics and Latinos in South Georgia. Combining educational, cultural, and health

related activities in an effort to bring the community together, the festival attracted

approximately 500 people the first year. Since the event moved to downtown Tifton

in 1999, community involvement has increased to 15,000 festival-goers and 200

volunteers. The festival now not only attracts the surrounding community, but draws

visitors from surrounding counties and states (37 counties and 5 states were represent-

ed at La Fiesta in 2002). Local motels, restaurant and downtown retail business has

culture

increased. Festival sponsors include Western Union. The Mexican Consulate also attends with a mobile unit to provide Mexican nationals consular services.

Tift County and the Abraham-Baldwin Arts Council (ABAC) have used the festival to establish themselves as progressive centers for Hispanic initiatives. ABAC'S College Assistance Migrant Program and High School Equivalency Program are both evidence that the community supports and fosters the education of Hispanic youth. Hispanic students from ABAC have also formed a successful dance troupe and campus club, Sabor Latino, as a result of their participation in La Fiesta.

DeKalb girls challenge traditional roles through dramatic expression

Cool Girls, Inc. is dedicated to the self-empowerment of girls in

low-income communities. Utilizing GAP funding from the DeKalb

Council for the Arts, Cool Girls, Inc. began the "Cool Players Drama Troupe" as an enrichment

Examine

activity for girls participating in

the Cool Girls Club program at Ronald McNair Middle School.

All participants were African-American and live in low-income

communities in DeKalb County.

society

The issue of school sexual harassment was chosen as a topic to examine creatively. The girls began by looking through magazine ads, discussing societal gender roles, and developing scripts based on advertising photos. The girls addressed a host of pertinent topics through their scripts including sexism, alcohol, the use of sex to promote and market products, and women's subordinate roles in magazine ads. The girls wrote poems and songs about sexual harassment, which they shared with their peers, and participated in activities designed to teach them various theatrical techniques and skills, including stage presence and improvisation. Moving in the Spirit, a dance organization, was also recruited to allow the girls to learn different forms of artistic expression.

NW Georgia students encouraged to take "creative risks"

Currently, there are no visual arts programs in any of Gordon County's elementary schools. To meet this need, a weeklong summer camp was designed to expose the children of Gordon County to a variety of arts experiences. Students from the Winner's Club, an organization for mentally challenged youth, and Imagination Station, the educational enrichment division of the Calhoun Housing Authority, attended. Due to additional funding provided by the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia, 24 of the 96 other campers who attended received a full scholarship. Many of these children were culturally, economically and/or developmentally challenged.

Dare

The camp allowed students the freedom to utilize their imaginations, and experience new

challenges and adventures in a constructive and educational environment. Each day the

to be creative

students were encourage to take creative risks while creating two different projects as well as

working on a weeklong project.

The students had the opportunity to experience a variety of media including, mask making,

fish prints, self-portraits, batik printing, collage, and wire sculpture under the instruction

of well-qualified art instructors from the Creative Discovery Museum.

At the end of the week, campers were able to select three of their works to be included in a student art show. The show and reception were open to the public and campers were encourage to invite family and friends.

Alma middle school students produce documentary

In partnership with the Alma Housing Authority (Al-Pal, Inc.), the Okefenokee Heritage Center, Inc. literally "made history" in Bacon County during a summer program designed to promote drama and help local kids take pride in their hometown and its rich history. The idea to revitalize the community through the use of an active theatre program originated with former President, Jimmy Carter. Mr. Carter stated at a "Your Town" symposium that a well prepared annual presentation of the town's history would be a good tool for drawing outside interest into Alma.

A mentor and playwright from Princeton University, Maura Cody, became interested in the project and arrived to help out. Several middle school aged children interviewed residents at a senior center and discovered many things about their town they did not know. "We talked to a lot of people about how society in Alma has changed over the years," said Maura. "We've interviewed rich people, poor people, black people, white people; and talked about race issues and segregation and how things have changed." A documentary was created from these interviews and presented in the Bacon County theatre using video, music, drama and
Honor readings. The play entitled, "Do You See What I See?",
was well received by more than 100 audience members, a considerable large crowd for this small rural area.

history

This spring, the student participants traveled to Princeton University to visit the facility and share their production video with the professors and students on campus.

Share

A community performance puts a small rural town on the map

Southwest Georgia has been steadily drained of human resources and agriculture for 50 years. There was little to be proud of until the arrival of Swamp Gravy and the Grassroots Arts Program. The idea for a community performance was initiated in 1991 when Colquitt volunteer Joy Jinks met Chicago dramatist Richard Geer. Local stories were recorded and developed into dramatic vignettes called Swamp Gravy Sketches and performed one October weekend in 1992.

your story

In 1993, GAP grants of $750 and $850 to Miller and Early Counties were combined to enable performance in

Blakely and Early County. Swamp Gravy then combined

a GAP grant with local resources to create a full-length play mounted in a donated abandoned

cotton warehouse in Colquitt. The play has launched an after-school tutorial program for at

risk children which in eight years has helped over 100 children and attracted over $200,000 in

government and private support. GAP funding has also helped organize the Colquitt Museum

of Southern Culture, opened the Arts and Education Center, launched a southwest Georgia

Cultural Tourism Initiative, assisted the Colquitt Millennium Mural project, and helped bring

the first Storytelling Festival to Miller County in the fall of 2000.

In the last 10 years, 1,000 citizens of Miller County have been involved in producing Swamp Gravy, over 100,000 tickets have been sold, approximately $4,000,000 in additional local revenue has been generated, and $1,750,000 has been raised to convert dilapidated buildings into arts-related facilities.

In Pulaski and Bleckley counties, public housing residents experience the arts

The Hawkinsville-Pulaski Arts Council Inc., Bleckley Arts Alliance in partnership with Family Connections and the Housing Authority, had Arts Day on June 22, 2002. The morning started with Artists Marvin Hill, Randy Colson and Bond Anderson instructing participants in various art projects. After lunch, The Cutno Dancers (two drummers and twelve dancers) from Augusta taught and hour and one-half dance workshop.

Over 43 people participated in the event with 26 actually participating in classes. This

was a first time experience for the housing authority residents. The goal was that the

event and performances along with community interaction would encourage and

motivate interest in the arts and inspire the participants to continue reaching out to make the community a better place.

Inspire

As a follow up to this all day event,

GAP funded a theatre residency in

April. The artist did storytelling at the Senior Center, Kids Express (a day care center),

Broad Street Christian Center (day care center), a center for people with mental

disabilities, Pulaski County Nursing Home and the schools. The artist also had classes

for families in after-school venues.

yocuormmunity

Encourage

Youth in Hinesville find success in song

The Hinesville Community Choir, a Liberty County Gospel music ensemble, received a 2002 GAP grant for an after-school enrichment program called Singing Toward Success. The 12 month program targeted youth in low-income housing. In addition to musical instruction, the program offered a creative environment and structured youth development sessions. It also reached out to children who were mentally and emotionally challenged with one on one instruction and included them among the other participants. In the program's first year, there were 38 sessions with 55 participating artists with over 1000 participants. The group has performed for the community as well as in a musical presentation in Nashville, Tennessee and recorded a CD focusing on tobacco use prevention.

youth

This year's Singing Toward Success program had 42 youth participate and all were promoted to the next grade level. The children participated in the Hinesville Christmas Parade, the Townsend Christmas Show, the

Annual Martin Luther King Parade, the

Southeast Regional Gospel Music conference and a Performing Arts workshop. A smaller

group of students participated in a regional music contest and will be participating in

the National Gospel Music contest in Washington, D.C. in August. "The Singing

Toward Success program has given these young people the self-confidence in their own

talent and abilities on various levels; it is amazing what these kind of arts programs can

achieve," said Irving White, founder of the Hinesville Community Choir. In addition

to GAP funds, the program received grants from the Tobacco Youth Prevention Program

and the Coastal EMC.

Additional GAP Agency Story Submissions

Albany Area Arts Council Counties served: Dougherty, Lee, Terrell Ritz Cultural Center
Over the past ten years, thanks in part to the grants received from GAP, the Ritz Center has presented authors, poets, storytellers, dance troupes and musicians to the community.

Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association Counties served: Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Towns, Union The 7th Annual Writers' Conference
The GAP grant helped leverage support from a private supporter to produce the funds to bring the keynote speaker to the conference.

City of Savannah, Dept. of Cultural Affairs Counties served: Chatham The Soup Bowl Project
The success in the GAP-supported ceramics event enjoyed by homeless participants not only offered the acquisition of increasingly marketable skills, but also belied past failures in traditional avenues.

Fulton County Arts Council Counties served: Fulton Youth Art Connection Studio Space
Someday, Christopher will be an illustrator. He knows it's possible: artist Kahrin Bennett taught him that. He has far to go in his pursuit of his goal. But at least this year, he took a huge first step.

The Arts Council, Inc. (Gainesville) Counties served: Banks, Barrow, Dawson, Forsyth, Hall, Jackson, Lumpkin, Stephens Art in the Garden Festival
Because of the support of the grassroots grant, the Dawson County Arts Council was able to realize the dream of rehabilitating the historic Old Rock School into venue for the arts in Dawson County.

Cherokee County Arts Council Counties served: Cherokee Art at the Mill 2000
Art at the Mill began small and with the help of the GAP funds expanded to include so much more. For example, artists exposed the participants to environmental awareness, showing how discarded junk metal can be transformed into imaginative artworks.

Cobb County Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Counties served: Cobb Juried Art Exhibit/Art of the Golden Generation
Eighty-four senior artists submitted 245 pieces of art. Evaluations were overwhelmingly positive and served to reinforce a positive image of all seniors as productive, knowledgeable and talented.

Georgia Southern University Counties served: Bulloch, Candler, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Wayne Youth Arts Fair Day
The arts are universal languages and through Grassroots Arts Program funding the Youth Arts Festival, inter-cultural obstacles disappeared as the arts bridged boundaries with the Hispanic population enriching the entire community.

Greater Augusta Arts Council Counties served: Burke, Columbia, Glascock, Jefferson, Johnson, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond, Warren, Wilkes Fear No Art
These 25 novices overcame their fear of art and exhibited paintings in a community where there has never been a formal arts council, arts guild or art gallery, an incredible feat!
Lowndes-Valdosta Arts Commission Counties served: Brooks, Clinch, Echols, Lanier, Lowndes "The Valdosta Voice"
"The Valdosta Voice" is the free monthly voice for the arts in six counties of south Georgia. It features short stories, poems, and op-ed pieces by writers who have never published before as well as reviews and publicity for small arts groups and cultural events.

Macon Arts Alliance Counties served: Bibb, Butts, Crawford, Houston, Macon, Monroe, Peach, Twiggs Candy Cane Pops
The holiday pops concert exposed new audiences from diverse communities to the beauty of symphonic music. The concert sold out and plans are underway to establish Candy Cane Pops as an annual event.
NE Georgia Regional Development Center (Athens) Counties served: Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Hart, Madison Celebrating the Traditional Craft of Northeast Georgia
Without the support of GAP, Elbert County would not be able to offer quality art programs for its older adults, many of whom have worked their entire lives and can only now enjoy leisure activities.

Randolph Arts Council Counties served: Clay, Calhoun, Randolph, Quitman Here Comes the Parade
Calhoun Family Connections and an elementary school orchestrate a musical presentation that gets the community marching. Here they come...musician, law enforcement, firemen, nursing home residents, teacher and children...all parading into the auditorium to hear blind Willie Woody.

GAP 10th Anniversary Taskforce
Bill Grow, Taskforce Chair Institute of Cultural Affairs Colquitt/Miller Arts Council
Syd Blackmarr GAP Technical Assistance Consultant
Valetta Anderson Executive Director, Tupac Shakur Foundation, Inc.
Natalie Ferguson Program Associate, Georgia Rural Development Council
Dynishal P. Gross Special Assistant to the Vice President of Corporate Research, Planning and Development, Atlanta Housing Authority
Veula J. Rhodes Grassroots Volunteer
Paula Vaughn Board Member, Georgia Association of Community Arts Agencies
Allen Bell Executive Director, Rome Area Arts Council
Joy Jinks GCA Advisory Council Member
Billy Parrish Director, Office of Downtown Development, Rural Development Division, Georgia Department of Community Affairs
Eileen Baker Executive Director, Savannah Department of Cultural Affairs

Mission
The mission of the Georgia Council for the Arts is to encourage excellence in the arts, to support the arts' many forms of expression, and to make the arts available to all Georgians by providing funding, leadership, programming and other services.
Funding for the Georgia Council for the Arts is provided by the Georgia General Assembly, the National Endowment for the Arts and other private and public sources.

Vision
The Georgia Council for the Arts believes that the freedom to create, view and interact with a diversity of artistic expression is essential to our democracy and fosters mutual respect for the beliefs and values expressed in the First Amendment.
We envision a Georgia that...
Embraces the arts as an important part of everyday life.
Believes the arts provide a significant cultural foundation for our future.
Acknowledges artists as a valuable resource.
Believes citizen involvement in the arts is vital to preserving our cultural heritage.
Embraces arts education as integral to the learning process and a crucial component of a complete education.
Believes the arts are a catalyst for community development.
Utilizes and promotes the arts as a powerful economic force.
Supports quality arts programs and services designed to improve the quality of life in Georgia.
Provides access to quality arts experiences for all citizens of Georgia regardless of race, ethnicity, geographic location, sex, religion, age, economic level, sexual orientation, or disability.

This book made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Georgia Rural Development Council.
260 14th Street, NW Atlanta, Georgia 30318-5360 Phone: 404-685-2787 Fax: 404-685-2788 TTY: 404-685-2799 www.gaarts.org