Idyllwild Arts Foundation to Receive National Endowment for the Arts Grant

IDYLLWILD, Calif., May 7, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Through its grant-making to thousands of nonprofits each year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) promotes opportunities for people in communities across America to experience the arts and exercise their creativity.

In the second major grant announcement of fiscal year 2015, the NEA will make a $40,000 award to Idyllwild Arts Foundation to support the 2015 Native American Arts Program and Festival, June 22-July 5, 2015.  The NEA will make 1,023 awards totaling $74.3 million nationwide in this funding round.

NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, "The NEA is committed to advancing learning, fueling creativity, and celebrating the arts in cities and towns across the United States.  Funding these new projects like the one from Idyllwild Arts Foundation represents an investment in both local communities and our nation's creative vitality." 

President of Idyllwild Arts Pamela Jordan, "Idyllwild Arts is honored to be selected by the NEA to receive support for this year's Native American Arts Program and Festival. For the NEA to partner with Idyllwild Arts reinforces our effort to ensure that Native art and new and emerging Native artists remain integral to the artistic landscape in America." 

The Native American Arts Program and Festival addresses the need to give voice to new and emerging Native artists in the world today.  The program has been an important facet of the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program since its inception in 1950 under the direction of Chickasaw artist Ataloa.  Today the program continues to set new standards for elevating the scientific understanding, cultural insight, and enduring spirit of Indigenous arts and artists. 

The 2015 Native American Arts Program and Festival will present the theme:  "Recycle… Reuse… Repurpose… that will reflect the cultural values, concepts, ideas, and aesthetic principles for Indian arts by Indian artists.  Various Native American Arts Workshops are available and give students hands-on opportunities to learn from nationally celebrated Native American artists.  During Festival Week, which is designed to enhance and add depth to the hands-on workshop experience, events, lectures, demonstrations, and performances help to deepen awareness, knowledge, and sensitivity about Native American arts and cultures and are free and open to the public, offering a way for those not enrolled in a workshop to learn about the most current issues and theories concerning Native American culture and art.  Native food tastings daily.

About Idyllwild Arts:

Idyllwild Arts is a residential, high school for talented young artists. The Summer Program of Idyllwild Arts, now in its 66th year, provides art forms for all artists of every age and level of accomplishment. Its sprawling and pine-forested campus comprises 205 acres in the San Jacinto Mountains, and is only a 2 hour drive from Los Angeles and San Diego.

Idyllwild Arts has a long and rich history of nurturing the creative talents of thousands of artists. Since the late 1940s Idyllwild Arts has been dedicated to providing the ideal environment for artists in every artistic discipline to seriously pursue their artistic passions.

SOURCE Idyllwild Arts