ive been involved with SAC on many levels since 1998. I have been a volunteer, a paid artist/teacher/consultant, a board member/president, a fiscally sponsored non-profit project, a consumer of their art events and newsletters/updates, and i was awarded the artist achievement grant. I think SAC has really come a long way in the many years i've been involved. So many of the programs we dreamed of in the late 90's are now a regular mainstay: fully interactive website with artist registry, gallery/cultural center, arts-bus, newsletter. etc. I feel that SAC has matured into a nonprofit that really serves the community of local artists as well as providing cultural opportunities for residents and visitors alike. there is a strong youth component through arts-bus and poetry out loud, and above all, artists are getting the opportunity to get paid for thier work, which is so important! communication has really improved in recent years, with standardized forms and board liasons for fiscally sponsored projects. im liking the gallery a lot as a place to see new work of local artists, especially the quality of work in the co-op.
Siskiyou Arts Council (SAC) has taken tiny grant funds and created big results for our small, rural community! I have been honored to be a part of SAC in several ways: 1) For the past 3 summers I have been honored to facillitate a writing class in Juvenille Hall. It is wonderful to be a healing witness to teens sharing their stories. Its also wonderful to see when their faces beam with light, when they have an "ah ha" moment. Students begin to honor their stories thus far and also begin to realize they have the abiity to change the genre of their stories; they recognize that the possibility lies within them to change/create a new, more positive, next chapter in their lives...2) SAC has been instrumental in bringing Poetry Out Loud (POL) to Siskiyou Co high schools...I have been a volunteer judge at Etna High each year POL has been happening here and the presentations get better & better. POL is a great program that allows kids to expand their understanding of poems and poets, increase their confidence to share poems with their peers, and the opportunity to win scholarships for themselves and their school..3) Finally, I watch with delight as SAC continues to sponsor viewings of paintings, sculptures, music, dance and other creative mediums, in every area of Siskiyou Co (we are the size of Rhode Island, with multiple mountain ranges, valleys, rivers throughout. It takes lots of committment by the director and volunteers to do this). I have been to art openings in Mt. Shasta, creative dance presentations in Juvenille Hall, put up posters with the art work of a SAC project helping adults with disabilities (conducted in Yreka), used notecards that help the Art Bus Project (where volunteers go in an old school bus all over the county offering art classes and info to children), visited the wonderful Marble Mtn Gallery in Ft. Jones (a Co-Op of artists that wouldn't be without SAC's help), and more. SAC brings beauty and Soul to us all! Thanks, SAC....Donna May, MFT