Deadline: 1-Nov-21
The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (CACF) is pleased to announce Prana Fund that aims to support projects that integrate environmental education and the visual arts through hands-on educational opportunities for children living in Charlottesville and/or Albemarle County.
Focus Areas
The Prana Fund supports programs serving children that successfully integrate the arts and the environment. Following are descriptions of projects that have received funding along with an example of an additional enhancing idea that would build upon the project and represent a deeper study into visual art. These additional ideas illustrate ways to incorporate a left brain/right brain approach that enhances learning while integrating the study of artists, art styles, and art history.
- Boys and Girls Club: of Charlottesville/Albemarle for their Forest Discoveries program. This program provided Boys and Girls Club members the opportunity to discover the “urban wilderness” forest located right behind the Cherry Avenue Unit of the Club, and it expanded the program to include a Scientist-in-Residence and an Artist-in-Residence. A public art exhibit was also held at the McGuffey Art Center.
- Additional Idea: Children create murals, make paper mâché, and are introduced to J. J. Audubon, an illustrator of birds and other wildlife, as a way to study images and make drawings and constructions.
- Youth Learning Academy: for the Design & Challenge Green Initiative, a hands-on program that linked students (ages 6-18) with local architects and builders who provided skills training, active learning and mentorship opportunities in the design and construction fields. The program integrated environmental education, green design, and sustainable building practices into the Design & Challenge Initiative. The students were praised by the ASPCA for their “Barkitecture” project in which they constructed 125 dog houses for pets that lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina.
- Additional Idea: Students choose an architectural style or architect, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, and use the style as inspiration for the design of their doghouse.
- The City School yard Garden at Buford: to expand their outdoor organic garden classroom. In addition to teaching the benefits of growing one’s own food, the garden provides an opportunity for classroom-to-garden instruction for ESL, English, Math, Science and Art classes.
- Additional Idea: Students study examples of Matisse’ “cut-outs” and then create their own designs or compositions using cut and torn colored paper made into shapes of vegetables and fruit. These designs could also be inspirations for printmaking. Additionally, students learn about Monet, the Impressionist painter who loved his garden so much he spent hours designing the garden and then painting the garden during different times of the day to show the effects of light on color.
Emphasis
Nonprofit organizations eligible for this award will be those:
- working in Charlottesville and/or Albemarle;
- primarily engaging children who have traditionally experienced limited access to the arts and outdoors; and
- integrating the visual or performing arts and the environment.
Funding Information
- Funding requests up to $15,000 will be considered, though smaller proposals are welcome.
- Proposals for up to three years may be considered; organizations that wish to request more than one year of funding should confer with CACF staff prior to applying.
Eligibility Criteria
- The agency must be a 501(c) (3) public charity or government agency (such as a school) working in Charlottesville and/or Albemarle County. A majority of children served by the proposed program must be from households who qualify for free/reduced priced lunch.
- The Prana Fund will not support endowment campaigns, annual appeals, or awards to individuals.
For more information, visit https://www.cacfonline.org/grants/opportunities#prana-fund