March 7, 2018 (Baltimore, MD) – Arts Every Day (AED) awards $22,000 to five Baltimore City Public Schools to implement large scale arts projects that will have a long-term impact on their students and surrounding community. Projects include exterior building murals at Western High School and Vivien T. Thomas Medical Academy, outdoor learning space mural at Morrell Park Elementary, mosaic sculpture at Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School, and a mosaic garden at Gwynns Falls Elementary School.
Arts Every Day is proud to be a driving force in building and sustaining a Baltimore City public school system that embraces creativity, art, and culture as a fundamental requirement for a quality education. Impact Fund is an extension of this work by affording students and teachers the opportunity to collaborate with local artists and community members. All Baltimore City Public Schools were invited to apply and the final five recipients were chosen by a committee of local art and design leaders in December 2017. At each project’s completion, the schools will host community days or dedication ceremonies in June 2018. The Impact Fund is the only grant exclusively for Baltimore City Public Schools to create large scale arts projects. One of the 2018 awardees, Morrell Park Elementary Middle School, reflects on how the Impact Fund is important to their community:
In 2014 with support from Point Breeze Credit Union, AED launched Impact Fund to support large scale permanently installed projects that connect individual schools to local artists and their surrounding community. The initiative has grown from supporting one to two projects per year to a competitive funding opportunity open to all Baltimore City Public Schools. Thanks to the new support from the Dock Street Foundation, M&T Bank, and a growing family of individual supporters, the Arts Every Day Impact Fund will support five projects in 2018.
Impact Fund Projects for School Year 2018
Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy: “Arts” In Medical Arts Mural
Awarded $5,000
Students in grades 10-12th enrolled in Drawing and Painting will paint a mural that showcases the mission and vision of Vivien T Thomas Medical Arts Academy. Students will work together to create symbols that represent “The Viva” and their passion to heal our world with artists Megan Lewis in a group designed mural.
Morrell Park Elementary School: Outdoor Learning Space Mural
Awarded $5,000
Morrell Park Elementary Middle School will partner with Access Art, a local after school arts program, to create an accompanying mural to their outdoor learning space. The theme of the mural will be around empathy and cooperation.
Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School: Inclusion Mosaic
Awarded $5,000
Sue Stockman in collaboration with the students of MERVO will create a small welcoming space where the extended community can sit and contemplate, finding their inner calm as they observe and meditate on color and form of the sculptural mosaic designs.
Western High School: The Dove Project
Awarded $3,000
The students will create mosaic doves that will fly across the facade of Western High school. Two art classes of students will be taught how to conduct workshops in creating the mosaic doves by the artist partner, Toby Rivkin, so they can then conduct workshops with teachers, parents, alumnae and students.
Gwynns Falls Elementary School: Mosaic Pathways
Awarded $3,000
This event will involve 3rd grade students, artist Carien Quiroga, and parents of the community. Pathway/stepping stones designed by students will be an addition to the outside meditation garden.