Area artist receives Artists in the Community grant

NARROWSBURG, NY — Collage artist Erica Hart of Mileses, NY has been named as the 2008 recipient of the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance $2,500 Artists in the Community grant, a grant category funded through the Decentralization Program (DEC) of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). Artists in the Community was developed by NYSCA to support highly accomplished artists in creating new and significant work.

In keeping with DEC’s commitment to community involvement, the grant requires a segment of the community to participate in some way in the creative process. Hart’s proposed project, “Heroic Spirits Shine in Sullivan County,” will entail the creation of a four-foot by six-foot triptych organized by theme. Each one of three panels will depict up to four local heroes who share a common quality such as courage, service or generosity and who will be nominated for inclusion in a public forum by county residents. Public input will continue throughout the process through interviews, and the completed work, with explanatory text, will be presented at selected town halls and libraries.

Hart has exhibited extensively throughout New York State in both solo and group shows. She has received two first-place awards in the Catskill Art Society’s Members’ Show, and her work is included in several private collections as well as in The New York Historical Society and The Center for Adult Education, Melbourne, Australia.

For further information about the program eligibility or developing proposals, call Dorothy Hartz, Decentralization Program Coordinator, Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, at 845-252-7576 or visit ArtsAllianceSite.org.