Prana Fund
The Prana Fund in the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation is seeking innovative proposals from Charlottesville area nonprofit agencies or schools. In 2011, this award will be eligible to nonprofit organizations working in Charlottesville and Albemarle who serve middle and lower-income children and whose work with children focuses on programs that integrate the visual arts with nature, environment, animals or wildlife. Established in 2005, the Prana Fund is a donor advised fund in CACF that seeks to support projects that assist children and enhance educational opportunities for young people. The Prana Award is a $25,000 grant provided annually in December.
Eligibility:
The agency must be a 501(c) (3) public charity or government agency (such as a school) working in Charlottesville and/or Albemarle County.
The Prana Fund will not support endowment campaigns, annual appeals, or awards to individuals.
Emphasis:
In 2011, this award will be eligible to nonprofit organizations working in Charlottesville and Albemarle who serve middle and lower-income children and whose work with children focuses on programs that integrate the visual arts with nature, environment, animals or wildlife.
Special consideration will be given to projects that incorporate hands-on learning and a multi-disciplinary approach in a way that builds memory through alternative learning methods. Established programs or new programs that have completed the pilot phase will be given priority over new program ideas.
Examples:
The Prana Fund has previously supported successfully integrated programs. Below are descriptions of the projects that have received funding along with an example of an additional enhancing idea that would build upon the project and represent a deeper study into visual art. These additional ideas illustrate ways to incorporate a left brain/right brain approach that enhances learning while integrating the study of artists, art styles, and art history.
1. Boys and Girls Club of Charlottesville/Albemarle for their Forest Discoveries program. This program provided Boys and Girls Club members the opportunity to “discover” the “urban wilderness” forest located right behind the Cherry Avenue Unit of the Club, and it expanded the program to include a Scientist-in-Residence and an Artist-in-Residence.
*Additional Idea: Children create murals, make paper mache, and are introduced to J. J. Audubon, an illustrator of birds and other wildlife, as a way to study images and make accurate drawings and constructions.
2. Youth Learning Academy for the Design & Challenge Green Initiative, a hands-on program that linked students (ages 6-18) with local architects and builders who provided skills training, active learning and mentorship opportunities in the design and construction fields. The program integrated environmental education, green design, and sustainable building practices into the Design & Challenge Initiative. The students were praised by the ASPCA for their “Barkitecture” project in which they constructed 125 dog houses for pets that lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina.
*Additional Idea: Students choose an architectural style or architect, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, and use the style as inspiration for the design of their dog house.
3. Light House for their “Keep it Reel” documentary program that works with low-income children to involve them in storytelling and video production.
*Additional Idea: Students view documentary films and learn the process of storytelling and reporting through visual images. They share their own lives and experiences through the production of documentaries about themselves. Students also learn about light and dark effects (exposure) and composing images in a frame for pleasing visual effects.
4. The City Schoolyard Garden at Buford to expand their outdoor organic garden classroom. In addition to teaching the benefits of growing one’s own food, the garden provides an opportunity for classroom-to-garden instruction for ESL, English, Math, Science and Art classes.
*Additional Idea: Students study examples of Matisse' "cut-outs" and then create their own designs or compositions using cut and torn colored paper made into shapes of vegetables and fruit. These designs could also be inspirations for printmaking. Additionally, students learn about Monet, the Impressionist painter who loved his garden so much he spent hours designing the garden and then painting the garden during different times of the day to show the effects of light on color.
What is the Reporting Process?
A grant recipient is expected to use the funds for the purpose approved in the grant award, and funds are to be expended within the specified period of time. Grant recipients are expected to submit a written report on the funded project six months from the date of the grant and again upon grant completion. The Prana Grant Reporting Form can be found here.
Amount of Grant: $25,000.
Proposal Deadline: November 1, 2011. Proposals must be postmarked or hand-delivered to the CACF office by the deadline.
Proposal requirements: There is no special form to use in applying for the award; however, requests should be submitted in writing under the organization’s letterhead and signed by its chief executive officer on behalf of the governing board. The following information must be included:
-Maximum 3 page project narrative
-evidence of 501(c)(3) public charity status
-agency’s most recent financial statement
-one-page project budget
-list of project leaders
-list of board of directors and key staff members
The recipient will be announced by December 16, 2011.
Please call Brennan Gould, Associate Director of Donor Relations and Programs Support, at (434) 296-1024 for more information or for questions regarding your proposal idea.
Photo courtesy of The City Schoolyard Garden at Buford Middle School.
