Howard Center’s Arts Collective Receives Spark! Connecting Community Grant
Burlington, VT— Howard Center’s Arts Collective program recently received a Spark! Connecting Community Grant of $3,000 through the Vermont Community Foundation. The grant was co-funded by the Community Foundation’s discretionary funds and by an anonymous fund holder.
Spark! Connecting Community grants put building and nurturing community front and center. The aim is to support grassroots work that builds social capital—the connective tissue of our communities.
The Howard Center Arts Collective works collaboratively to ensure that there are opportunities for artists with lived experience to connect, create, and exhibit work. They conduct open studio times twice per week for Howard Center clients, provide free art supplies, visit art galleries, and hold social events each month. Recently, the Arts Collective held their latest exhibit ‘Art Is My Sanctuary’ at the Amy E. Tarrant Gallery in Burlington, Vermont. Kara Greenblott, Howard Center’s Arts Collective Coordinator says, “We are immensely grateful to receive the Spark! Connecting Community Grant for the Arts Collective. The grant will enable us to produce four art exhibitions in 2020 and bring attention to the talent, creativity, and the positive role that our members play in the community.”
The grant funds will also support the twice-weekly open studio sessions, and the purchase of art supplies. One Arts Collective member states, “Having Open Studio or an Arts Collective meeting helps me to get out of bed in the morning. It gets me out of the house to do something fun and good for me.”