Art Spark
Power of the Arts's & Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership's campaign will raise funds for paid internships for arts/culture nonprofits, and two literary murals featuring the work of local writers and artists.
Leader
Karen Schubert
Location
Federal St. Youngstown, OH 44503
About the project
When Yo-Yo Ma and the Kennedy Center spent the day in Warren and Youngstown in Northeast Ohio in mid-August, they praised our thriving arts scene. This initiative will build on what our communities are doing so right, by fostering public art, and increasing capacity for arts and culture nonprofits and students who wish to gain experience in the field.
Our Valley is rich with writers and poets, and we thought it would be amazing to showcase literary works on a pair of murals, one in Warren and one in Youngstown. We will solicit short works from writers of Mahoning and Trumbull Counties. (To submit a poem or short work of prose, click here.) A published poet will select the finalists, and the organizers, along with the building owner, will choose the winning piece. The poem or prose will be artistically designed and painted by YSU art students, under the auspices of YSU painting professor Dragana Crnjak.
An additional objective of this fundraiser is to provide paid internships for students who wish to work with arts and culture nonprofits. Theaters, after-school programs, museums—all benefit from extra project staff. Students need experience, as well as financial support. Five paid internships will help close this gap.
And finally, Power of the Arts is seeking operating funds. This arts advocacy nonprofit has dedicated itself to promoting, building and developing the arts and culture sector of our Valley.
The Steps
Project timeline:
Deadline for poem submissions: November 30, 2018
Poems and sites selected: December, 2018
IOBY Fundraiser deadline: December 31, 2018
Paid internships: Spring Semester, 2019
Murals designed and painted: Spring and Fall Semesters, 2019
Why we‘re doing it
One of the initiatives of The Kennedy Center’s Arts Across America is to measure the impact of the arts, and nationwide, the arts are a greater driver than even agriculture. Here in the Valley, the results are no less impressive. For every dollar we spend on an arts and cultural experience, we put four more into the economy. For every dollar the Ohio Arts Council invests in the arts, the state sees a $10 return.
As Ohio Citizens for the Arts director Bill Behrendt notes, we can talk all day about jobs and economic development, but we also know the arts raise our quality of life. Arts cross social boundaries, help us think creatively, foster our connection to our geographical and cultural place. Our festivals, theater, live music, museums, galleries, concert halls, public art, poetry readings, dance, speaker series, classes, lessons and workshops—they all make Valley life that much the richer. If you were at Yo-Yo Ma’s concert at the amphitheater in Warren, you heard 20,000 people, in lawn chairs, fall absolutely silent.
To that end, Power of the Arts helps to promote and connect arts and arts enthusiasts. Our 2018 Arts Means Business focused on collaboration, the economic impact of museums, and the intersection of art and religion.
Art Go! will put local artists’ work on WRTA buses. With support of community partners, local artists’ work will be displayed on the outsides of buses. We are excited about this project, bringing art into the neighborhoods, showcasing our homegrown talent in a beautiful, rolling gallery.
We are seeking support to continue working in the community to raise up the importance of arts and culture in our Valley.