On behalf of the board of Salida Council for the Arts, I want to send a special thank you to everyone who donated to our organization this year. I want to report to you what we were able to do this year with your help. 1. We doubled our High School Scholarship last year and awarded two $1,000 prizes to deserving high school seniors. 2. We supported local artists with our annual Valley Visions art show - and thanks to our hard-working committee – we expanded it and made it better than ever, now including a student art section. 3. We awarded $2,000 in Community Grants to projects that benefitted all of us in the community, such as circus events, dance performances and music concerts.
4. And we hosted our monthly Creative Mixers where artists in the community gather to visit and share ideas.
Now I want you to tell you about our plans for 2023: 1. We plan to DOUBLE our Community Grant money from $2,000 to $4,000 to fund even more projects and we plan to do it throughout the year, not just once. 2. We’re adding a brand new grant, designed to support artists struggling to reach their career goals. We’re calling it the Creative Career Advancement Grant. We’re hoping to raise $2,000 to fund 4 grants of up to $500ea. 3. We’ve widened the criteria for our High School Scholarships to include students pursuing a career in ANY Creative Field - not just visual or performing arts, but also disciplines like design, architecture, multimedia, writing, communications, culinary arts - and lots more. 4. And we will continue to provide our monthly mixers where we can enjoy live music from talented musicians and celebrate artist openings at the Paquette Gallery. We'll be inviting local businesses to sponsor our Creative Mixers to encourage further community engagement with the Arts. But we can’t do this without your support. Please consider going to our Donation page and making a tax-deductible year-end contribution or become an Annual Supporter. We’re calling it “Friends of Salida Council for the Arts” and we hope you’ll continue to help us support the Arts in our community. Thanks and from all of us at Salida Council from the Arts, Happy Holidays
Ken Brandon, President
Salida Council for the Arts