Women Supporting the Arts | Grants, Fellowship and more

Join Women Supporting the Arts

A Trip to the new Norton Museum of Art

30 MartinArts | FALL | WINTER 19 | 20 Imagine having lunch, visiting museums, and attending concerts with people who love and support the things you do… the arts! That’s exactly what Women Supporting the Arts encourages but does so much more, by investing in 238 grants in Martin County, totaling $325,000 over the last 15 years.

Would you like to learn more? Then plan on attending the new members reception held in November at the beautiful home of Polly and Tom Campenni. Call the Arts Foundation, at 772-288-5397 to learn more about this private event and about being a part of Women Supporting the Arts. Annual membership is set at $1,000 and the pooled funds support arts enhancement projects throughout our community. Artists and nonprofit organizations submit grant applications, and these are reviewed by the members. A consensus is achieved over the course of two meetings with grant awards announced in mid-December.

Members gather at an informal monthly luncheon to share their latest arts adventures and learn more about some of the grant programs that have benefitted from their investments. These lively lunches are a great source of information about the progress our grantees are making with their projects. For more information, call Nancy K. Turrell, 772-288-5397 or email: nturrell@martinartsfoundation.org .

A dozen or so members of Women Supporting the Arts trekked to West Palm Beach in May to see the recently renovated Norton Museum of Art. Treated to a docent-led tour, members enjoyed the museum and lunched in their elegant new restaurant. The Norton renovation has expanded their gallery space by 35%.

Tykes & Teens

Tykes & Teens presented “Coping with Middle School, Creatively!” with support from Women Supporting the Arts. There were four sessions offered, each with a different art project and theme. Attendees in grades 6-8 participated in projects that stimulated conversation about challenges often faced in middle school including anxiety, bullying, and low self-esteem. Participants were encouraged, but not required, to share their own experiences and through their art projects explored ways to problem solve, reduce anxiety, recognize signs of bullying and foster kindness and generosity. Facilitator and Certified Art Therapist Shawna Scarpitti has a gift for swaying teens to open up and discuss social-emotional issues while creating.

Treasure Coast Youth Symphony was able to award nearly $15,000 in scholarships at the end of the concert season. Women Supporting the Arts provided a grant to support this program which are used by recipients for continued music education through participation in summer camps and music festivals as well as private lessons. Scholarships were provided to Charlotte Strohl (Martin County High School), Ashlyn McNerney (Jensen Beach High School), Kyle Ramos (South Fork High School), Sarah Spector (Martin County High School), Abby Bracken (Jensen Beach High School), Sophie Bracken (Jensen Beach High School), Angela Charles (The Pine School), Kyla Marquardt (South Fork High School), Addison McGee (Home School), Jonah Buchanan (Home School), and Lincoln Buchanan (Home School).

Beach Treasures

Creative Caboose’s founder, Doreen Poreba, was able to purchase two quality Himalayan singing bowls and a gong to use in her Vibrational Voyage sound sessions with grant funds received. During a recent “Vibrational Voyage” conducted at a school, she started off with an explanation of how sound, vibrations and frequencies work in allowing our minds, bodies and emotional states to find balance. Creative Caboose

Author and artist Sunny Walker has spent months traveling up and down A1A and MacArthur Boulevard, before sunrise and in the late afternoon photographing birds, sea life and the flowers of the beaches of the Treasure Coast. She plans to publish her book, Beach Treasures, no later than the end of 2019.