The Kentucky Arts Council is offering Teacher Initiated Program grants for short-term artist residencies scheduled to take place in the spring of 2011. These grants give professional artists an opportunity to demonstrate their art forms and provide students and teachers repeated hands-on experiences in the making of art. Artists also collaborate with teachers to design and implement innovative programs that provide the tools to continue utilizing art across the curriculum after the residency is completed.

Residencies vary widely, depending on the planning of the teacher and the artist hired for the residency.

“We encourage schools to participate in the Teacher Initiated Program because we have seen how valuable these artist residencies have been in engaging students in the learning process,” said Lori Meadows, executive director of the Kentucky Arts Council.

The grant amounts are based on the length of the residencies, which can be for one to four weeks. The grant awards are $540, $1,080, $1,620 and $2,160, respectively. The schools select artists from the Kentucky Arts Council’s Arts Education Roster, which is available at http://artistdirectory.ky.gov/aer/.

The application deadline is Oct. 15, 2010. Guidelines and applications can be found at http://artscouncil.ky.gov/guide/prog6/TIP11sGuidelines.pdf.

For more information about the Teacher Initiated Program, contact Carrie Nath at carrie.nath@ky.gov. or 502-564-3757, ext. 486.

The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.