The Starved Rock Country Community Foundation is honored to award an art grant of $2800 to the Nell’s Woodland Foundation in support of a Young Artist Mentorship program to be launched this summer. The award was made through the Arts of Starved Rock Country Fund in partnership with the Illinois Arts Council.
The Nell’s Woodland Program involves an art retreat for local emerging artists and emerging artists from the St. Louis area, who were chosen through a competitive portfolio application process. Over the course of three days in July, participants will engage in hands-on mentorship across diverse disciplines, including en plein air painting, wet felting, cyanotype photography, and mosaic. A central highlight of the experience will be the creation of a collaborative mosaic, where each student’s individual contribution will be integrated into a single, unified work to be displayed for the public.
An additional mission of the retreat is to bridge geographic distance and foster a lasting creative community by connecting young talent with one another and professional mentors from our community. Participants will spend time at Nell’s Woodland, in downtown Ottawa, and other locations.
The mission of Nell’s Woodland Foundation, located at 2000 Alexis Ave. in Ottawa, is to provide programs that support stewardship in the areas of Ecology, Wellness, and the Arts. Using their 60-acre preserve as an essential platform for their work, Nell’s Woodland offers programmatic gathering spaces, a diverse range of self-directed recreational and social activities, and opportunities to forge new ideas, relationships, and partnerships.
Learn more about Nell’s Woodland by visiting http://nellswoodland.com. For more information about the Arts of Starved Rock Country Fund at the Starved Rock Country Community Foundation, click here or contact the SRCCF office at 815-252-2906.
