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Craft Center receives $425,000 grant from Windgate Charitable Foundation
Event Celebration of Craft 2APR16 00012
Daniel Randall, metals professor at Tennessee Techs Appalachian Center for Craft works in the centers blacksmithing studio. A grant from the Windgate Foundation will help the center upgrade the studios at the Craft Center.

 

The Appalachian Center for Craft at Tennessee Tech has received a $425,000 grant from the Windgate Charitable Foundation to support its fine craft education programs.

 

“We are very honored and grateful to receive the generous support of the Windgate Charitable Foundation to strengthen the craft center studios for both current and future generations of craft artists,” said Kimberly Winkle, director of the School of Art, Craft & Design, which includes the Appalachian Center for Craft. “The Windgate gift will allow us to make great strides in attaining our goals as a leading academic and cultural center, both regionally and nationally.”

 

The grant includes $90,000 to fund the center’s popular high school summer intensive programs for three years. This program provides opportunities for students and teachers alike to spend an entire week creating and learning at the Craft Center. Participants spend the mornings studying one craft medium, afternoons studying a second medium, and evenings exploring additional media. Craft Center artists lead all workshops.

 

Other funds in the grant are:

 

•$150,000 for equipment used at the center. According to Winkle, the center has an extensive list of equipment needs, and the gift will “have a tremendous impact on addressing much of our aging studio equipment.”

 

•$35,000 for promotional efforts to raise awareness of the craft center.

 

•$150,000 for challenge grants to benefit student scholarships and the center’s Artist-in-Residence Program. For each, the Windgate Charitable Foundation will match gifts dollar-for-dollar, up to a total of $75,000. The scholarships will support students in the center’s craft studios: glass, metals, fibers, wood and ceramics.

 

Based in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, the Windgate Charitable Foundation is a family foundation established in 1993 that is known for its support of the arts and education. In 2005, the foundation gave $500,000 to the craft center for student scholarships, the largest single gift ever to the center.

 

If you would like information on how you can support craft center students through the two challenge grant funds, please contact Brent Young at 931-372-3055.