Arts Access

Textile Center's Feed the Fibers field trip program targeted groups from schools, community organizations, homeschool groups, afterschool and enrichment programs throughout the region. This year we worked with ten new partner organizations and built on partnerships with six organizations who had participated in the pilot year. The following groups participated in 2012/13: L'Etoile du Nord French Immersion School, Valley Crossing Community School, Green Central Park School (after school enrichment program), Carondolet Catholic School, Lincoln Elementary, YMCA Camp Heritage, Horace Mann Elementary, Shakopee High School, Our Lady of Peace, Community of Saints, Pullman Elementary, Kaposia Education Center, Battle Lake High School, Rogers Middle School Art Club, Holy Trinity School. Partners were chosen via an application process and applicants provided demographic information as well as descriptive narratives about barriers to access and the importance of art to students. 2: This project was designed to help address the financial barriers that schools and community groups encounter which prevents them from participating in hands-on cultural and arts experiences. Partner organizations for 2012/13 were primarily self identified as low to middle income and between 50-90% students on free and reduced lunch programs. Most identified cost for transportation and activity fees being barriers to participation. Comments from the application forms help to illustrate the financial need and importance of this project: Our schools have asked us, as teachers, to teach with little to no cost. This amazing opportunity meets many goals for these students. My goal as a mother of one of these students…[is] to provide amazing opportunities for my kiddo. Our classroom goals, to provide a first rate education to our students. Finally our district goals, to do it all with little to no money. We will not be able to make a trip to the Textile Center if not for this grant."