By Kathy Chouteau
As NIAD Art Center artists start creating work for the collaborative “Heart & Soul of Richmond Art” project in the upcoming months, they’ll be using equipment in an accessible workshop funded by the Richmond Rotary Club, per the Center on Facebook.
The Center—a visual arts studio program that helps artists with disabilities be independent and earn income—said the Richmond Rotary Club helps fund “a specific area of need” of theirs each year. This time around the special need was sponsoring “equipment for an incredible new shop completely converted and rebuilt from an underutilized storage space.”
The shop will be where the artists will craft facets of a display they are making in partnership with the Richmond Main Street Initiative (RMSI), according to NIAD.
The project has been made possible with a Love Your Block Mini-Grant from the City of Richmond City Manager’s Office, Economic Development and Community Services Department.
The partnership will see ten local artists and directors team up to create 18 wooden heart-shaped art pieces “telling the rich history of Richmond,” per NIAD. Half of the pieces will be displayed in Richmond’s downtown Community Green Space Garden and the other half will appear in NIAD’s large windows overlooking 23rd Street.
“Richmond Rotary is proud to be a partner with NIAD and we appreciate the positive impact their program has on adults with developmental disabilities,” said Richmond Rotary Community Services Chair Don Lau.
