Perkins Receives Grant for Artists-in-Residency

was one of 23 organizations statewide to receive a grant last month from the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey for its contributions to the arts.

The $10,000 grant Perkins received will be used to place artists in residency programs in schools across Burlington and Camden counties. Perkins development manager Jackie Wasneski said the grant will support artists residencies in 14 schools, reaching more than 10,000 students and adults. The residencies vary in length from six to 20 days.

According to Wasneski, the schools selected for placement are in districts in which funding for the arts has been cut. There aren’t any Moorestown schools on the latest list though, she said, because most of them have well-funded arts programs.

“(The program) brings students and school administrators and even parents together to acknowledge and use the processes of the arts,” she said, “in a way that helps them self-evaluate, and problem solve … and last but not least, celebrate the tradition of the arts.”

According to information provided by Perkins, its residencies play a critical role for schools, structuring residency activities on the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards and the 21st Century Skills Framework, which provide students with authentic learning, teamwork and communication skills.

Each residency focuses on developing skills in one or two artistic media, including mural painting, poetry, sculpture, dance, percussion, mosaics, theater and storytelling.  In addition, this year Perkins is implementing its first “STEM to STEAM” residency, embracing science, technology, engineering, math and the arts, as well as a second new residency emphasizing folk arts.

Wasneski said Horizon has supported Perkins with grant dollars over the last five years.

Perkins does not yet have the full list of schools for this year’s residencies, but last year Perkins placed artists in several local schools such as Springville Elementary in Mount Laurel, Howard Yocum Elementary in Maple Shade, Benjamin Franklin Elementary in Pennsauken, and several schools in Cherry Hill and Camden.

“There’s a majority of overlap between this year’s list and next year’s,” said Wasneski.