The Friendswood Rotary Club completed its inaugural 12X12 Art Auction on Dec. 9 which raised $4,680 to fund fine arts grants in Friendswood ISD (FISD) through the Friendswood ISD Education Foundation (FEF).
The goal of the project was to feature the gifts of the artists of today while investing in the artists of tomorrow in the Friendswood community.
“We owe a huge thank you to the Conroe Art League for helping us get this project off the ground,” Friendswood Rotarian Dr. Rebecca Hillenburg said.
Thirty-six participating artists, including seven Friendswood High School art students and four FISD art teachers, donated their time and talent to create a 12X12 canvas for the online auction.
“Our goal was to raise $3,600, so we were very excited to surpass that with the strong response from the community,” Friendswood Frame & Gallery Owner and Rotarian Luis Briones said.
Friendswood Rotary President and FEF Director Judy Wiggins worked alongside Rotarian and FEF Executive Director Ashley Adair to develop a recommendation of which fine arts grants to fund with the $4,680 raised.
“It was important to us to fund a variety of fine arts grants at both the elementary and secondary levels,” Wiggins said. “We also selected a few grants that will equip students to engage in art service projects in the community as they exemplified Rotary’s motto of service above self.”
In total, 13 fine arts grants were selected that will impact art, music and theater projects.
One grant titled “Mo Willems Musical” for Westwood Elementary will enable all Westwood students to take a field trip to Main Street Theater to see one of their favorite books, “Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!”, come to life as a musical. The grant will promote literacy and introduce students to the art of musicals at the same time.
Another grant titled “Artwork Sew Perfect” for FHS will fund a sewing machine and materials for art students who want to engage in more three-dimensional pieces of art. This is an area students have expressed interest in exploring more in order to participate in 3D categories in art competitions and community events.
“We are so grateful to collaborate with Rotary on this new fundraiser,” Adair said. “I loved visiting with the winner of each art piece at pick-up and hearing their unique ‘why’ behind their decision to support the project.”
You can come alongside Rotary in supporting FEF’s Adopt-A-Grant Campaign by visiting the Foundation’s website at fef.myfisd.com/grants and clicking the yellow button to browse this year’s grants.
