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A newsletter of Napa Valley Community Foundation

October 2012

The arts are an important part of the civic fabric of any community.

 

Six years ago, Napa County's arts and culture thread was unraveling: The sector was home to about 50 organizations and collectives, but had shed roughly 25 percent of them at a rapid clip. Arts groups weren't collaborating. Donors were fatigued by an overbuilt (and undercapitalized) venue scene.

 

People wanted change, but we didn't have a roadmap, also known as a cultural plan--a tool used by communities to support thriving arts sectors.

 

Arts Council Napa Valley brought together residents, nonprofits, teachers, art galleries, culture collectives, venues and donors to build and implement a cultural plan for Napa County.

 

Since then, the sector has been making a steady come-back, including:  

  • A County Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) funding stream was established, with a set-aside for arts/culture;
  • The cities of Yountville and Napa launched public art programs;
  • Arts groups and Visit Napa Valley (the local tourism agency) began collaborating to market new cultural events to tourists; and,
  • A flurry of promising offerings have taken root, like Slack Collective, Battle of the Bands, open mic nights, Shakespeare Napa Valley, Napa Porchfest and Nimbus Arts.

This issue of Community Link features a budding nonprofit arts organization that is part of the sector's renaissance.

 

If you'd like to support this or any other effort, please complete a donor recommendation form and fax it to us at 254.7955.  Give us a call at 254.9565 if you have any questions.

  

If you'd like to read past issues of the newsletter, go to http://www.napavalleycf.org/index.php?page_id=169. 

  

Julia DeNatale & Marla Tofle  

Philanthropic Services Staff 

 

NVFFArts & Culture

Festival exposes students to the art and power of filmmaking

 

Agency:  Napa Valley Film Festival

Support Needed:  $12,000

Purpose:  Expenses for middle- and high-school education program

 

It's not every day that students come face-to-face with world-renowned documentary filmmakers, but that's exactly what will happen when Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) kicks off next month.

 

NVFF, a nonprofit, launched its five-day, county-wide celebration of independent and emerging films and filmmakers in 2010.

 

The festival has an education component aimed at broadening the artistic and humanitarian horizons of local school kids.

 

NVFF selects age-appropriate documentaries with relevant, socially conscious subject matter that build on schools' existing curriculum. Students watch the movie in class, and the screening is followed by a discussion--about the core themes and how they relate to students' personal experiences--that is facilitated by the film's producers and "stars."

 

Last year's program screened a film that examined racism through the lens of students in Mississippi whose high school held separate proms for black and white teens.

 

NVFF is expanding this year's program by adding a second movie and doubling the number of kids reached. One film, about a 14-year-old girl who solicited donations and traveled to Southeast Asia to save endangered elephants, will be shown to 1,000 middle school students who will discuss themes of taking action and making a difference.

 

Another movie, about resilience and survival, chronicles a group of genocide survivors from Rwanda that formed a cycling team and later qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games; it will be viewed by 900 high school students. 

 

NVFF's budget for the education program is $27,000, including: film crew travel expenses; NVFF staffing costs; and, DVD/curriculum sets for teachers to use with future students. Local families have volunteered to lodge film crews, who are waiving honoraria in lieu of donations to their respective causes.

 

To-date, NVFF has raised $15,000 in individual donations; a gap of $12,000 remains. Your support will help local kids build their global understanding, as well as their appreciation for the art of film.

 

Cinema Napa Valley dba Napa Valley Film Festival

PO Box 10994

Napa, CA 94581

707.226.7500

Contact: Marc Lhormer, Executive & Artistic Director

Email: marc@napavalleyfilmfest.org

http://napavalleyfilmfest.org

Contact the Community Foundation

email: julia@napavalleycf.org

web: http://www.napavalleycf.org