Community Foundation of the Ozarks

More than 30 regional arts’ leaders and elementary art teachers came together  on Saturday, Feb. 27th at the Creamery Arts Center in Springfield, Mo. to learn more about the Greater Ozarks Art Tour. The event, hosted by the Springfield Regional Arts Council (SRAC), featured an informational webinar for regional arts’ leaders in the morning and then provided a working lunch where art teachers and community leaders learned about SRAC’s regional programming opportunities.

The lunch premiered the new Vincent Van G.O.A.T. DVD which features five new artists from the Ozarks’ area. Vincent Van G.O.A.T. is a colorful goat sculpture partnered with an interactive computer program that features film clips of Ozarks’ artists.  Vincent is geared toward elementary-aged students, who are invited to climb on his back and learn about Ozarks’ art forms through kid-friendly computer software. This is the second DVD released for Vincent and was made possible by a generous grant from the Kirby Foundation.

Other offerings of the Greater Ozarks Art Tour include:

• Greater Ozarks Arts Tour Performance Series brings performance arts (voice, dance, instrumental, theatrical, literary) to rural schools and their respective communities.
• The Artist-in Residence Program is available to participating schools for a one-day program that includes a “mini-gallery” of the artist’s works, an assembly, work with individual classes, and the on-site production of an artistic piece that is presented to the school at the end of the day.
• Claymobile is a mobile ceramic education program.  Developed by Springfield Pottery, the Claymobile is a fully-stocked van that transports all materials needed for clay workshops—including the teachers!  Participation in the Claymobile program requires a 50% match at the local or school level.

SRAC is a partner of the Rural Schools Partnership as it works to enrich rural schools through the arts. For more information on the Greater Ozarks Art Tour, please call the SRAC at (417) 862-2787 or visit SpringfieldArts.org. For more information on the Rural Schools Partnership, please visit www.ruralschoolspartnership.org.

PHOTO: Leah Hamilton Jenkins (far left), executive director of the Springfield Regional Arts Council, talks with regional art teachers after lunch. Each attendee received a copy of both Vincent Van G.O.A.T. DVDs.

This weekend, films created as part of the Springfield and the Ozarks 48-hour film challenge, SATO 48, will screen at the Moxie Cinema in downtown Springfield. Now in it’s third year, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks provided SATO 48 with its initial funding with a grant to the Springfield Regional Arts Council as part of CFO’s Metropolitan Springfield Grantmaking Program.

The SATO 48 screenings this weekend are also part of Arts in Action: The 10 Weeks Festival and the Arts Programming Sustainability Initiative, so when you catch a short film this weekend, be sure to kick in an extra buck for the arts.

SATO 48 is a short-film challenge where filmmakers must create a five-minute short film in only forty-eight hours. The challenge is they don’t know what the film must be about until the last moment.

In each of its 3 years the number of filmmaking teams participating has grown in number as well as geographical reach. In the first year 30 teams joined in, the second year saw 40 teams, and this year 48 teams paid their $20 registration fee to join in.

Each team, including actors, crew, and production personnel has, on average, ten members so this represents a significant number of area artists.

In addition to the teams themselves the greater community also gets involved: Many friends, family and fans attend the films’ screenings at The Moxie Cinema; a Local Selection Committee of representatives from government, the arts, education, and business, select the top 10 films which go on to be judged by a panel of International Judges who bestow Academy Award-style recognition; and finally, an Awards Ceremony is held to acknowledge all the filmmakers, announce the winners and give cash prizes.

Sustainability revenue is generated through the filmmakers’ registration fee, the ticket price for The Moxie Cinema screenings, and a cover charge to the Awards Ceremony. (more…)

The Arts Programming Sustainability Initiative (APSI), an effort led by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, announces Arts in Action: The 10 Weeks Festival, a collaborative event that highlights ten weeks of over 100 arts events and performances throughout the city to raise money for arts in education and children in Springfield Public Schools.

The 10 Weeks Festival will run from March 14, 2009 through May 31, 2009 and will feature existing arts events, festivals, performances and concerts from a number of Springfield arts organizations. This week’s events are:

Beauty and the Beast – Evangel University
Barnett Theatre on the campus of Evangel University
March 19, 20, 21 2009 at 7:30 PM

The Boys Next Door – Springfield Little Theatre
Landers Theatre
March 19,20,21 at 7:30 p.m.
March 22 at 2:30 p.m.

The Skinny Improv Mainstage Show
The Skinny Improv Theatre
March 20, 21 at 7:30 PM and 10:00 PM

Visit www.The10Weeks.com or call 417-862-ARTS (2787) for event descriptions and more information. (more…)