The Creative Sonoma Arts Response Grants for Organizations are a one-time funding opportunity for nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in Sonoma County to produce creative projects in response to the 2017 wildfires.
Eligible projects had to be accessible to the public, but could be from a variety of genres including dance, theater, media, visual, folk, literary and design.
The goal of the grant program was to support innovative creative projects in communities across Sonoma County in response to the fires. Grants were awarded in amounts up to $5,000.
The two Sonoma Valley grant winners were Art Escape and the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art.
Art Escape’s project is called Sweet Home Sonoma. It is a collaborative display and event in recognition of the community’s resilience after the wildfires. As part of the project, five art-making and creative writing sessions will be conducted across the Valley, at which participants will paint 160 small birdhouses and insert their handwritten experiences of the fire, which will be displayed outside Art Escape on Highway 12 for two weeks and then distributed.
Sonoma Valley Museum of Art’s grant will support its upcoming Sonoma Fire Stories exhibition. The exhibit will be a multi-media presentation of community stories depicting the many facets of experience in the wake of the 2017 Northern California wildfires. The three-month exhibition is intended not only to preserve these stories but to place a spotlight on the strength and resiliency that has been demonstrated in order to support the community’s healing process.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: