Date: May 11, 2016
Contact: Janet Moore, 608-444-0190
Today, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Park Service announced $1,067,500 in support of support 50 grants in 27 states, including an award of $15,000 to the Bad River Tribe. Beyond Words: Artistic Visions of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands will offer a series of five workshops, following the water from the headwaters of the Bad River to Madeline Island, the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and on to Red Cliff. Led by guest artists and speakers, this project offers tribal and non-tribal youth and community members a unique opportunity to learn to see Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands through new eyes. Beyond Words is a way to connect people to nature, to their own creativity, and each other...to create a new level of understanding about the culture and ecology of this incredibly beautiful place and tell its stories through the universal language of art.
Imagine Your Parks is a grant initiative from the National Endowment for the Arts created in partnership with the National Park Service to support projects that use the arts to engage people with memorable places and landscapes of the National Park System. These awards are part of a larger National Endowment for the Arts announcement also made today in which the agency will make 1,142 awards totaling $80.9 million to organizations in all 50 states and five jurisdictions.
“As part of the NEA’s 50th anniversary, this year we are celebrating the magnificence of America’s national cultural treasures through art,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “The Imagine Your Parks grant program unites our mission with the National Park Service by connecting art projects with the natural, historic and cultural settings of the National Park System and will inspire a new generation to discover these special places and experience our great heritage.”
"The Imagine Your Parks grants are helping us celebrate the NPS Centennial and the NEA’s 50th Anniversary with some incredibly diverse and interesting projects that continue to inspire more Americans of all backgrounds to connect with their national parks,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “The grants already awarded are already demonstrating the success of the program through a variety of inspiring projects. A new generation of artists is connecting to national parks through their work, and motivating others to do the same.”
"I am delighted to see that this cooperative project with the Bad River Band has been awarded tan NEA 'Imagine Your parks' grant," said Apostle Islands National Lakeshore superintendent Bob Krumenaker. "Artist Janet Moore has worked closely with us to embody the NPS Centennial goal of engaging the next generation in this special place that is such an important part of the American experience. The Apostle Islands and Lake Superior have always been central to the Ojibwe people and the quality of life in our region. What an amazing opportunity for talented local artists to share their passion for this place and to teach young people how to express their own connections with this place through art."
Janet Moore, the project director for Beyond Words, will give a public presentation outlining the project on Thursday May 12 at 7pm at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Headquarters in Bayfield.
Follow “Imagine Your Parks” on Twitter @NEAarts and @NatlParkService, #ImagineYourParks #NEASpring16.
About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 411 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. To learn more about the National Park Service, visit www.nps.gov.
About the NEA: Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts and the agency is celebrating this milestone with events and activities through September 2016. Go to arts.gov/50th to enjoy art stories from around the nation, peruse Facts & Figures, and check out the anniversary calendar.
