Edmonds Arts Festival and Festival Foundation Board members hand out Grab and Go Art Supplies at Lynnwood Elementary School this summer.
The Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation has donated $10,000 to Edmonds School District middle school and high school teachers to assist in purchasing art supplies for students to use at home during remote instruction.
This program builds on the Foundation’s hugely successful Grab and Go Art Supply program. In May, the Foundation allocated $10,000 for art supplies for elementary school students. These supplies were distributed at Edmonds School District Grab ‘n Go lunch sites. Students chose between a set of colored pencils or watercolors, with an opportunity to also take a set of sidewalk chalk. Paper was given to those who wanted it. In order to support Edmonds businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation arranged to purchase the Grab and Go art supplies through ARTspot on Main Street.
Typically, the Foundation awards Art Instruction Grants at the beginning of the school year to support in-class projects or equipment used to support instruction on an ongoing basis. But since COVID-related closures have prevented Edmonds School District students and teachers from meeting in person, instructors have been unable to share resources in the classroom, creating a need to purchase individual sets of materials students can use at home.
Because educators cannot deliver art instruction in classrooms this school year, the Foundation made the decision to finance art supplies for students’ home use.
The Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to education and the cultural enrichment of our community through the arts. The Foundation gifts more than $80,000 annually in the form of scholarships, grants, public art installations, and large special community projects. The annual Edmonds Arts Festival is the primary fundraiser for the Foundation, allowing the Foundation to realize its mission. With the cancellation of the 2020 Edmonds Arts Festival, the Foundation’s Board of Directors dedicated some of the Foundation’s remaining resources to alternate projects, including funding the purchase of art supplies for students’ home use.
Please visit www.edmondsartsfestival.com to learn more and support the Foundation’s mission to support and enrich art in our community.