FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Springfield, MO. (February 15, 2017) - Placeworks, an arts education outreach partnership of the Springfield Art Museum, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, and the Rural Schools Partnership received a much needed boost this school year in the form of a $5,000 gift from the Bee Payne-Stewart Foundation and $5,000 in matching funds from the Southwest Missouri Museum Associates.
Placeworks provides flexible, customized interdisciplinary artist residencies and field trips to requesting schools at no cost to the school district. Since its inception in 2010, Placeworks has served over 26 rural school districts and 4,300 students across southwest Missouri. Primarily funded through a grant from the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation, Placeworks' growth means that residency requests are now outstripping available resources. Museum Educator Kate Baird notes, "We are very thankful for the investment of these community partners, without which we couldn't provide meaningful, in-depth arts experiences to kids in communities that might not have access or opportunity to visit a Museum or similar cultural institution."
Classroom teachers interested in requesting a Placeworks teaching artist residency can find out more, view completed projects, and submit their request at www.placeworks.weebly.com or www.sgfmuseum.org/160/Tours-School-Programs, or by contacting Kate Baird at kbaird@springfieldmo.gov or (417) 837-5700.
Pictured: Janet Ellison, SMMA Treasurer; Susan Daniel, Bee Payne-Stewart Foundation President & SMMA Secretary; Kate Baird, Museum Educator & Placeworks Founder.
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The Springfield Art Museum is Springfield, Missouri’s oldest cultural institution, founded in 1928. A department of the City of Springfield, we are dedicated to enhancing the education and documenting the cultural heritage of the people of southwest Missouri through the collection, preservation, and exhibition of art objects. For more information, please visit www.sgfmuseum.org. For more information, please contact Joshua Best, Development and Marketing Coordinator, (417) 874-2859 or jbest@springfieldmo.gov.