Arts Education Grant
Will Benefit
Local School Aged Children
A
collaborative project between two of St. Johnsbury’s cultural institutions that
is intended to benefit the school aged children of the area will soon become a
reality as a result of a generous grant from the Canaday Family Charitable Trust.
The
New York Trust recently announced that a three year grant in the amount of
$103,500.00 has been awarded to
Catamount Arts for the development of a children’s arts education program in
collaboration with the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum.
Beginning
in September, representatives of Catamount and the Athenaeum will begin work on
the project which will utilize the facilities and resources of both
institutions.
The
goal of the project is to begin offering a series of arts education classes in
the fall of 2013 to children from area elementary age school children.
During
the 2012-2013 school year, the collaborators, working with a consultant, will
develop a specific curriculum of courses and secure a coordinator and
instructors for the two-year pilot program of arts education classes.
It
is hoped that this arts education program will result in a variety of
affordable arts classes being made
available to a wide range of area children, according to Jody Fried, executive
director of Catamount Arts.
“We
are excited about working with the Canaday Charitable Trust and the Athenaeum
to develop this program,” Fried said recently. “It offers a unique opportunity
to help area children access the great cultural and artistic wealth available
in our community.”
Matt
Powers, the executive director of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, is also looking
forward to this collaborative effort and what it means for area school aged
children.
“The
Canaday Trust has given our local children a wonderful opportunity to study the
great cultural legacy of the Fairbanks Family and to become familiar with the
other artistic resources available at the Athenaeum as well as at Catamount
Arts,” Powers added.
The
primary purpose of the Canaday Family Charitable Trust is to encourage and
support not-for-profit organizations that work in Vermont to improve the lives
of children and families, promote environmental education and conservation, and
preserve the environment.
The foundation
seeks to fund innovative programs with clear, measurable goals for creating
unique and significant improvements in the lives of children and in the
environment.
The Canadays,
Ward Murphey and Mariam Coffin, became residents of Toledo, Ohio in 1916. In
1935 Mr. Canaday took over and revived the ailing Willys Overland Corporation,
a local car manufacturer, and in 1940 he led the effort to develop what became
its most famous product, the JEEP.
Mrs. Canaday was
a poet, classical scholar and patron of the arts. They began a program of
charitable giving in 1945, supporting educational and artistic endeavors at
home and abroad.
After their
deaths, this tradition was continued by their family and now is carried on
through the work of The Canaday Family Charitable Trust. The Trust's current
focus on Vermont reflects the Canadays' long-term attachment to the state where
they spent many summers.
That tradition also was valued
and retained by the family, some of whom have become yearround residents in the
state.
A third valued Canaday tradition that has
endured through subsequent generations is the principle of partnership, of
encouraging differing interests to work together to achieve a common,
sustainable philanthropic goal.
“With our
collaboration on this unique and valuable arts education program for area
children,” added Fried, “both the Athenaeum and Catamount are proud to continue
the Canaday tradition of cooperation and working toward a common, sustainable
goal.”
