Grantors allow the Friends of the Visual Arts (“Friends”), dba Willamette Art Center, to reach out to area schools and continue to support our “Give Back to the Community” activities.
The Friends is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization and a member of the Oregon Cultural Trust.
The Friends is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, a Federal Agency. We would like to thank the Oregon Arts Commission for their Arts Recognition Grant. This fund was used to develop and purchase promotional materials for the WAC, including brochures and a video about our Center.
The Friends would like to thank the City of Salem for their ongoing support of the center. The Salem Cultural and Tourism Promotion Advisory Board advises the City Council on matters pertaining to the use of the transient occupancy tax (TOT), cultural activities, and convention and tourism business in Salem. The Friends received two grants from the TOT fund during Fiscal Year 2008. The first, a Capital Improvement grant, has been used to improve our Kiln Yard and create a new entrance to this area. The second is an Operating Expenses grant, which has contributed across the board to our programs. In 2009, we received a grant to remodel and begin our Oaks Gallery. From 2009 to the present we have received special events grants to support the activities of the Artisans’ Village managed through the center. Also, from 2009 to the present we have received operational grants supporting the programs and daily business of the Willamette Art Center.
The Friends thank the Spirit Mountain Community Fund and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde for a Capacity Expansion Grant. These funds helped us to “go Green” by recycling used clay and keeping it out of landfills. We purchased a Pug Mill and gear that allows us to re-mix and reclaim clay, making it good as new for our students and artists to use!
The Friends would like to thank the Marion Cultural Development Corporation for a capital project grant to improve equipment in our glass blowing studio. Currently, we would like to thank them for their continued support of a recent grant supporting children’s educational programs.
The Friends would like to thank The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation for a grant that enabled the Willamette Art Center to purchase a new advanced logic auto-fired gas kiln.
The Friends would like to thank the William S. Walton Charitable Trust for a grant that enabled the Willamette Art Center to purchase materials and supplies for the installation of three permanent school clay art sculptures: two in Salem middle schools and one in an elementary school. This grant helped to build bridges between middle school art instructors and the Willamette Art Center and funded clay construction materials that are now part of the art center’s outreach work with schools.
The Friends would like to thank the Oregon Community Foundation, and trustee Pioneer Trust Bank, for grants that enabled the Willamette Art Center to support the costs of Family Clay Sunday (e.g. instructors, supplies) and upgrades to our equipment in order to increase our community offerings and exposure.
The Friends would like to thank the Salem Foundation, and trustee Pioneer Trust Bank, for a grant that enabled the Willamette Art Center to create the Totem project at Bush Elementary School.
