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Arts Council
ArtsStart! Grants Infuse Arts in Early Childhood Education
The Kentucky Arts Council approved panel recommendations for $6,480 in ArtsStart! grants, an artist residency program specifically designed to meet the needs of young learners. The purpose of this program is to place professional artists in Kentucky early childcare facilities to demonstrate their various art forms, from music to visual arts to children, staff, directors and parents.
At the Christ of the King Learning Center in Louisville, Antoinette Crawford-Willis did a one-week residency with preschool children from ages 3 ½ to 6 years old called How the Animals got their Colors. “It broadened the children’s horizons about theatre and plays. It was good experience for these children to learn about, that they wouldn’t normally have,” said Dorothy Clark, one of the staff members that worked with Crawford-Willis.
Children and parents attended a play, participated in skits and learned songs that they are still singing weeks later about different colors and animals from different parts of the world. While going through this process the children were learning about the steps in the production of a play as well.
ArtsStart! Residencies include child, parent, director and staff participation activities or events. This inclusion promotes the awareness of the value that arts provide to the holistic development of young children.
“I really learned a lot. Like how to make the kids get more involved in story telling time,” said Clark after the residency. “It just captured you the way she moved; the children were in amazement along with the parents and myself.”
For more information about the ArtsStart! Grant Program, please contact John S. Benjamin, Arts Education Program Director, at 1-888-833-2787, ext. 483 or John.Benjamin@ky.gov or Pat Ritter, ArtsStart! Grant Coordinator at 270-433-5605 or artmusicpat@yahoo.com.
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The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet that invests in programs that develop vibrant communities, provide lifelong education in the arts and support arts participation. Every $1 in grant funds awarded by the Kentucky Arts Council helps grantees secure $15 in earned income and matching funds from individuals, philanthropic sources and other levels of government. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
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EDITORS NOTE: FY2006 ArtsStart! grant recipients, contact information and participating artists are listed below by county.
ArtsStart! Grants
COUNTY ORGANIZATION AMOUNT
HARDIN St. James Parish Primary $540
Grantee Contact: Carol Zager
(270) 765-5587
Artist: Antoinette Crawford-Willis
Louisville, Ky
HARDIN Valley View Education Cetner $540
Grantee Contact: Debbie Curry
(270) 769-2359
Artist: Lorinda Jones
Rineyville, Ky
JEFFERSON Christ the King Learning Center $540
Grantee Contact: Dorothy Clark
(502) 776-8337
Artist: Antoinette Crawford-Willis
Louisville, Ky
JEFFERSON Baptist Hospital East Center for $1,080
Child Development
Grantee Contact: Brandi Smith
(502) 897-8014
Artist: Hiedi Howe
Louisville, Ky
JEFFERSON Highland Presbyterian Weekday School $1,080
Grantee Contact: Ann Lacy
(502) 456-6991
Artist: Antoinette Crawford-Willis
Louisville, Ky
JEFFERSON Kentucky Country Day School $540
Grantee Contact: Judy Wheeler
(502) 423-0440
Artist: Antoinette Crawford-Willis
Louisville, Ky
JEFFERSON Saint Benedict Center for Early $1,080
Childhood Education
Grantee Contact: Margret Evans
(502) 772-7324
Artist: Loren Freed
Louisville, Ky
JEFFERSON Ujamaa Learning Center $540
Grantee Contact: Phyllis Brown
(502) 774-5966
Artist: Antoinette Crawford-Willis
Louisville, Ky
WARREN Children’s House Montessori School $540
Grantee Contact: Vicki Clarkson
(270) 842-3652
Artist: Delaire Delaire
Bowling Green, Ky
TOTAL $6,480
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