MACA and McDowell County Schools: Mountain Arts ProgramThe Mountain Arts Program (MAP) is a long-standing partnership between McDowell County Schools and McDowell Arts Council Association. With the goal of supplementing regular arts education in schools, MACA pairs teaching artists of all mediums from across our state to classrooms in McDowell County for week-long residencies to enrich the lives and outcomes for our kids.
In Summer 2021 this program hosted 5 concurrent teaching residencies for K-12 classes during Summer Enrichment classes including origami, painting, photography, music, poetry, and theatre. McDowell Children's Theatre
MCT began with a summer theatre camp in 2013. There is a role for every kiddo who wants to participate in one of our productions, and there are many roles to fill onstage, backstage, and in the tech booth. We welcome children of all ages, diversities, backgrounds, and abilities to create the best, most beautiful shows!
There is no cost for any child (ages 5 to 18) to participate in our our productions. More info here! |
Free Little Art KitsWe've hit a milestone ~
just over 700 of our Free Little Art Kits have been given out to children in McDowell County this past calendar year! This could not have been possible without our friends and partners in community This project began last summer as a partnership between us, Foothills Food Hub & Centro Unido Latino-Americano Page to get art supplies to children in our community through food boxes given out through these awesome organizations. Recently we received a $500 Gift of Love Grant through the McDowell County Health Coalition , and after matching funds, were able to create 400 additional art kits that include a sketchbook, colored pencils or crayons, graphite pencil, sharpener, eraser, Spanish/English bilingual activity packet (translation services provided by CULA ) and a page of stickers! These packets were distributed through our non-profit friends at Foothills Food Hub, Centro Unido Latino Americano, and West Marion Community Forum to kids throughout our community. Shout out to our awesome intern Gina Newton who packed so many of these packets with love, from our little arts council family to yours. 
‘Alas de McDowell // Wings of McDowell’ sculpture inspired by dreams of local residents
A new community art project that was inspired by the hopes and dreams of McDowell residents will soon be sent to Raleigh for a special exhibit. “Wings of McDowell” is a community art project that is inspired by the international traveling sculpture “Wings of the City,” created by Mexican sculptor Jorge Marin. The local project was developed by Silvia Martin del Campo, who is a cultural ambassador of her country, Mexico. Fifty members of the community answered this question and recorded their answers on metallic gold “feathers” during workshops held at MACA by del Campo and the Jorge Marin Foundation. Their stories, highlighting the voices of our Latinx community members, were used to construct the 7-foot-tall sculpture “Alas de McDowell//Wings of McDowell.” 
The sculpture will soon travel to the Consulate General of Mexico in Raleigh and will be on exhibit there alongside Marin’s “Wings of the City” in Dorothea Dix Park from October of this year through March 2022.
This project would not have been possible without the help of Andres Herrera, Jeff Duckworth, Terri Thorpe, Eddy Rodriguez, Lisa Lack, Gaby Garrido, Gaby Mendez, Daniel Monroy, Santi Monroy, Francesca Hagarty and Carlos Madera. McDowell Quilt Trail
The McDowell County Quilt Trail project is sponsored by the McDowell Arts Council Association.
The Quilt Trail program began in June 2009 as part of a grassroots interest to extend the Quilt Trail of Western North Carolina to McDowell County. The McDowell Quilt Trail has now been retired, but their beautiful works of art can be spotted across McDowell County. MQT was retired in 2018 having met their goal of coloring McDowell County with 230+ beautiful quilt squares. 
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The N.C. Arts Council created the Grassroots Arts Program to increase the state's already growing number of local arts councils and to help establish North Carolina as a leader in the national community arts movement.
Grassroots funds support the arts council and local arts organizations. |