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January 11, 2022. SAINT JOSEPH, MICH. - Krasl Art Center (KAC) has exciting Education Department updates to share in the new year. The Frederick Upton Foundation challenged the non-profit to a matching grant of $15,000. The community responded generously with gifts totaling $17,965. Combined, the $32,965 raised supports the purchase of art supplies, teaching faculty pay, and program resources for outreach initiatives, family days and nights, and studio-based activities.
Krasl Art Center’s Education Department has more reasons to celebrate: $10,000 worth of new technology is coming to its studio classrooms through the support of an anonymous donor. KAC will purchase iPads and new technology that will revamp programs, responding to student-expressed needs for more opportunities to express themselves through creative technologies. Classes like photo editing and digital illustration will become available for classes at our partner organizations like the Boys & Girls Club and in KAC’s studios thanks to this generous gift.
From the entire team at KAC - thank you for your support.
Supporting Students, in the words of the Donor:
"I have been a long-time fan of Krasl Art Center and my admiration has increased in recent years. Their mission to ‘Inspire Meaningful Change and Strengthen Community through the Visual Arts’ is something I believe is very important, and leadership at KAC has supported this mission statement through their activities. Visual arts impact all of us by making us think, feel, and react to our environment.
“When I contacted Julia Gourley Donohue about making a contribution, she connected with me to help determine where the donation might have a meaningful impact. We discussed several projects that support the mission, and the education department's purchase of new technology and design software was the most appealing to me. Not only will these resources be used for classes at KAC, but they'll be used for classes at the Boys and Girls Club. This was the optimum use of my modest donation, in my opinion.
“The interaction with Julia and having input on how my donation will be used made the giving experience very meaningful and rewarding. I encourage everyone to consider giving to the organization of their choice to support the many needs in our community. I choose to remain anonymous because this is not about me but about the good things happening in our communities."
The technology will support programs at the Benton Harbor Girls Academy and KAC’s Teen Arts Council, in addition to KAC classes and the Boys and Girls Club. KAC’s Teaching Artist Dani Davis, speaks about the impact this will make on young people:
“Having new and up-to-date technology, such as iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, is going to help us create so many more fun and enriching learning opportunities for our campus students and community programs. I can't wait to see how excited the students will be for new tech-based art classes this semester!”
Learn more about KAC classes and community programs online at krasl.org, or stop by and visit during public hours. Winter break camps and 2023 classes are open for registration through January 16, 2023.
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