Arts Center scholarships still needed
Just a few weeks ago I wrote about the need for scholarship funding here at the Arts Center. The start of the school calendar is when the demand is the greatest for scholarships. Everyday we get calls and inquiries from parents that would like to enroll their children in art or music classes but, unfortunately, the monthly tuition fee is not in their family budget. Our goal here at the Arts Center is never to turn away anyone due to an inability to pay for an art or a music lesson. All scholarship applications are reviewed carefully and are awarded based on need. We ask everyone to pay some portion of the monthly tuition to help make the limed available funding stretch as far as possible. I want to get the school year off to a good start, so I am asking, once again, for individuals and businesses to contact the Arts Center to make a scholarship donation.
Unfortunately not one person or business has contacted the Arts Center to offer any scholarship assistance as a result of my last request. I often hear people in the community talking about the need for after school programs and activities for kids and young adults. What I would like to point out is that we already have programs for young people to get involved in. We have families and their children that would like to come to our Arts Center after school and on Saturdays to take art and music classes but, unfortunately, there are not always adequate financial resources to accommodate everyone. We need to take advantage of and support what we already have in place.
We have received generous scholarships in the past and they have all been put to good use. Many young students have been given the opportunity to learn about art and music that may have not had that chance if not for the generosity of others. Unfortunately, the demand outweighs the current level of contributions for the number of needed scholarships.
The Arts Center already partners with the YMCA, Communities in the Schools, the Moultrie Housing Authority and the Doerun the Housing Authority. The Arts Center also works with the Colquitt County School System on program called Creative Afternoons that brings elementary students from all over the Colquitt County for after school art programs. All of these great programs have room for more participation and growth. These programs are made available to every child in our community at little or no cost.
There is no shortage of art programs at the Colquitt County Arts Center. Dance, theater, music and the visual arts programs are offered each and every month. The Arts Center has scholarship opportunities available for Youth Studio Classes such as painting, drawing, ceramics and other visual arts disciplines. Music classes at the Arts Center include voice lessons, choir, guitar, piano, drums and violin. I have mentioned in past articles that studies show that music lessons improve math scores and drawing and painting are beneficial to communication skills. Art and music classes build confidence in children which translates into making them better students and future citizens.
Scholarships are $50 per month. You can purchase as little as one month to introduce a child to the arts or you can sponsor a full eight month program (September through April) to cover the entire school year for $400. There are additional summer scholarship opportunities that you can be sure that I will mention next spring. Any donation amount can be put towards a scholarship sponsorship.
Please contact the Arts Center at 985-1922 if you have a particular student that you would like to sponsor or we will be happy to identify one for you. We can’t meet our goal of not turning anyone away from participating in the arts without your participation and financial help. Please remember that the Colquitt County Arts Center is not supported by any local city our county tax dollars. The only state funding available is from the Georgia Arts Council and that represents less than 3% of our total annual budget. We were just notified that this funding will be cut by 10% this year! So you can see that your support is essential for the Arts Center to continue offering quality art programs for the people of Colquitt County.
I also want to let you know that the Colquitt County Arts Center is proud to have works by Southern Watercolorist Randy Gibbs on display in the Vereen Gallery through Nov. 15. If you are familiar with Randy’s work you will enjoy seeing this large collection of paintings. If you are unaware of this great local artist, you are in for a real treat. Also on display are works by wife and husband artists, Jean and Dell Gay. Painting and a selection of ceramics by Jean perfectly complement the photographs of nature by her husband, Dell. Please do not miss seeing these collections of great art by local talent.
By Jeff Ophime, Arts Center director
http://www.moultrieobserver.com/
