Murphy – The Valley River Arts Guild is in the national spotlight.
The Valley River Arts Guild, the organization that created and runs The Murphy Art Center, has announced its recommendation from the National Endowment for the Arts for the Challenge America $10,000 award, designated to fund the Murphy Art Xplosion (MAX Project) Outdoor Art Gallery.
This grant is one of only 262 Challenge America awards nationwide, totaling $2.62 million, announced by the NEA as part of its first round of fiscal year 2023 grants.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide,” NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson said. “Projects such as this one, with Valley River Arts Guild, strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.”
The NEA grant will support each contributing artist for the next two seasonal art panel change-outs of the Murphy Art Xplosion Project, showcased throughout downtown, by paying each artist a $100 licensing fee for each digital art file that is accepted for printing in the spring and the fall shows. The NEA grant is a 1-1 matching grant, working in tandem with the Cherokee County Tourist Development Authority and Cannon Foundation.
The MAX Project is the brainchild of Valley River Arts Guild President Debra Vanderlaan, a creative idea she has been dreaming about for several years. As a committee member of Main Street America’s Appalachian Culture, headed by town director Laura Lachance, Vanderlaan presented her idea at their first meeting, receiving an enthusiastic reception from the entire committee.
With the help of Lachance and of Sherry Raines, director of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, permissions were gained from downtown business and building owners, to install the beautiful 5x3-foot framed canvas panels in 13 downtown locations. The art is changed out each season, offering an inventive way of showcasing beautiful paintings, photographs and digital art of many regional artists.
The TDA initially backed the project in hopes that other funding sources could be located. Searching for funding, Vanderlaan found and wrote a detailed grant to the Cannon Foundation, which was established in 1943 by Charles A. Cannon, president and CEO of Cannon Mills Company. This foundation funds projects for organizations across his home state of North Carolina.
The Cannon Foundation awarded just 169 grants in 2022, totaling over $10 million throughout the state, choosing to award $17,000 for the MAX Project of the Valley River Arts Guild. With the grant awards by the NEA, the Cannon Foundation and TDA, there will be enough funds to continue the Xplosion of community art installations through the end of 2023, paying for the wood frames and the printing and installation costs for each art panel. All funds are used only for materials, with all labor donated by volunteers with the arts guild.
The MAX Project’s Outdoor Art Gallery is being promoted nationwide, forwarding the mission of the Valley River Art Guild to create an art destination for our region, bringing beautiful art to the community, and supporting local and regional artists by showcasing their art in a big way.
The next call-for-art for the Spring Show will be issued at the beginning of February, with a submission deadline for art files Friday, March 10. Thirty-five art files will be chosen by a jury panel, with each artist whose work is accepted, being paid a $100 licensing fee.
The theme for the spring show is “Anything Goes, Inspired by the Appalachian Mountains.”
This next show will be competitive, with artists submitting from all over the entire region and beyond. Check the Facebook page www.facebook.com/MurphyArtExplosion at the start of February for details about the next show.
The MAX Project directors are Debra and Dave Vanderlaan with committee installation help from Julie and David Lindsay.