LCVA Gains Momentum to Complete ART10 Campaign, Make School Programs Educator Position Permanent

The Longwood Center for the Visual Arts (LCVA) has an exponential impact on the South Central Virginia region. The art museum of Longwood University is located in downtown Farmville and the museum’s purpose is to serve as a physical, intellectual, and cultural bridge between the university and the community at large.

Students from Crewe Primary School enjoy the Have Art, Will Travel: The Riches of China program provided by the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts.

Since 2011, the Jessie Ball duPont Fund has provided $150k to support the school programs educator position while the LCVA is raising funds for an endowment to make the position permanent. An endowment is a sum of money that is invested and only the earnings are expended. An endowment for a school programs educator means that funds will be available to support the position for the long term. To date, the LCVA has raised $214k of the $350k goal needed.

As the timeline for the endowment goal draws near, the LCVA is once again gaining momentum with a campaign called ART10 (art to the power of 10) designed to highlight the exponential impact the LCVA has in the South Central Virginia region. The goal is to raise $100k by April 26. The LCVA hopes 100 people will give $1,000 each to reach this $100,000 goal. A black-tie event is planned for Saturday, April 26, 2014 to celebrate reaching this goal.

In the past two years, the LCVA has grown from serving ten counties to currently serving more than 60 public, private, and home schools in twelve counties including Albemarle, Amelia, Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Goochland, Halifax, Lunenburg, Nottoway, Powhatan, and Prince Edward counties thanks to the duPont Fund. Continuation of the LCVA’s school programs is vital for the success of the region.

With the expansion of the museum’s programs, the need for staff also continues to grow. The school programs educator position plays a critical role in providing programs. The position’s role is to maintain, expand, and develop new programs that support the educational mission of the LCVA.

Current programs include:

• ART Kids (photography program for at-risk fourth graders) at Prince Edward County and Cumberland County Elementary School

• Have Art, Will Travel: The Riches of China (program delivered to second-grade students with resource trunk, available to all twelve counties)

• Annual Area Youth Art Exhibition (the largest annual youth art exhibition in the Commonwealth, representing over 1,500 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade)

• School Tours for art exhibitions (primarily reaching elementary grades); and

• Teacher Workshops (Professional development and SOL based programs that qualify for teacher re-certification)

Laura Dedmond, Longwood alumna, who teaches art at Dillwyn Elementary and Gold Hill Elementary in Buckingham County, speaks on behalf of her colleagues by saying, “The LCVA’s programs are invaluable. Whether we go to the LCVA, or whether the LCVA comes to the schools, our students receive so much from the programs. In a time of shrinking budgets and a turn away from the arts, it is critical for the LCVA to fill the gaps in our area.”

Longwood University provides only partial financial support for some, but not all, staff salaries and maintenance of its 33,000-square-foot facility. The LCVA relies on private contributions for approximately 50% of its operating budget. The rest must be secured through private contributions from individuals, businesses, and charitable foundations each year.

To become one of the 100 sponsors for this special campaign, please contact Beverley Roberts at (434) 395-2551. The Longwood Center for the Visual Arts is located at 129 N. Main Street in downtown Farmville. Admission is free; gallery hours are Monday-Saturday from 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.