One local elementary school will serve as the host site for an artist residency program, made possible through a $10,000 grant.
The Roswell Cultural Arts Center (RCAC) seeks one public elementary school located in the City of Roswell to serve as the host site for RCAC’s first artist residency program, made possible through a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
The project will engage up to 250 elementary-age students in teamwork, collaboration, and hands-on learning through the process of creating an indoor, mobile sculpture. Students will work with SchoolSculptures founder Kevin Reese to design the piece of art in the spring of 2016 through distance learning. In August 2017, Reese will travel to the host school and work with the students as they build, sand, paint and balance the mobile over a five-day period. At the conclusion of the residency, an indoor mobile will be installed at the elementary school as a permanent piece of art for the school’s campus.
Following the residency, Reese will give a free performance of his show, A Perfect Balance, at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center on Saturday, August 26, 2017.
The project is funded by the NEA’s Arts Engagement in American Communities initiative, with $10,000 in matching dollars from the City of Roswell’s grant match contingency fund. The grant covers all of the expenses of the residency, and the partner school will not be required to provide any financial resources to the project.
Schools interested in serving as the host site for the residency should complete the application form that will be distributed to all public Roswell elementary schools the week of November 7. The host school will be selected by a committee comprising City staff and Recreation Commission members based on criteria including:
- A demonstrated commitment to the project from the school administration and the teacher(s) who will serve as the residency director(s) for the school
- Evidence of efforts to integrate the arts into the school beyond the standard curriculum
- Evidence of parental/community support for similar projects at the school
Teachers or school administrators should contact the City’s Cultural Arts Coordinator, Donna Clayton, with questions about the project at dclayton@roswellgov.com.
About Kevin Reese
For more than 30 years, actor, designer, director, and visual artist Kevin Reese has worked with young audiences as a performer, teacher, and artist-in-residence. In 2001, Reese formed SchoolSculptures to collaborate with communities nationwide to create large permanent moving sculptures, and Kevin has completed more than 165 installations in 29 states. A native of California, Reese graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts. Currently, Reese resides in Washington, DC, where more than 52 of his sculptures have been installed. His one-man show, A Perfect Balance, has been performed internationally and was featured at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2003 and the National Gallery of Art in 2005 and 2010.
The Roswell Cultural Arts Center is located at 950 Forrest Street in Roswell, Georgia 30075, roswellcac.com or 770-594-6232.
