The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Grant to help Arts Collaborative fulfill mission
The Willoughby Arts Collaborative was recently awarded a grant from the Ohio Arts Council.
Led by President Pat Carroll Bonander, the nonprofit has implemented a variety of projects since 2018 in their effort to improve the livelihood of residents, visitors and businesses in Lake County through a connection to, and an investment in, arts and culture.
These projects include the painting of crosswalks in Downtown Willoughby, bike racks, an arts time capsule, arts inspired storefronts, a chalk fest, murals, electric box art and a yarn bombing exhibition in Wes Point Park.
Additionally, WAC has participated in Last Stop Willoughby, the ArtsFest and the Heart of Willoughby’s Outdoor Market.
According to Bonander, the $3,700 grant is a feather in WAC’s cap and will allow the nonprofit to keep moving forward and fulfilling their mission, which remains creating and supporting arts in Willoughby.
“We’re always looking for ways to support our mission,” Bonander said. “Starting this new year, we’ve got a lot of projects that we’re mulling over to further our mission.”
WAC is currently in the midst of interviewing artists for a mural. Last year, the nonprofit had a call for art for 12 more utility boxes, which will be going in this spring.
“We will be having another call for art for another 12 boxes until we finish all the boxes in Willoughby,” Bonander said. “That has to be funded, so we always look for people to help us with funding on those projects. They’re all different and this year, we had like 30 submissions and we chose 12.”
Artists involved with the utility box project received a stipend for their art in addition to WAC coming up with money to make the project happen.
“The good thing about that one is it does spread out into the community because we do have boxes in every ward,” she said.
Over the next five months, the grant will support WAC in also summarizing all programs and projects completed during its five-year history. The organization plans to meet with key community partners for discussion of both previous work as well as exploration of future potential collaborations.
WAC will also be completing a comprehensive assessment of their impact. Two community meetings are slated for later this spring and a survey will be widely distributed in the community. This grant project is to be completed in July with outcomes shared to WAC’s Board, the Ohio Arts Council and the community.
“WAC is fortunate to have an active board, all of whom are volunteers and a group of community volunteer members,” Bonander said.
As WAC has grown, she and the board have recognized the impact and opportunity of their arts initiatives. This resulted in Bonander working to apply for the Capacity Building Grant from the Ohio Arts Council. The grant was awarded after a review process by the state agency.
“The Ohio Arts Council provides a number of grants, available to non for profits in Ohio to support the arts,” she said, noting that this is the second grant WAC has received from the state agency.
The first grant was to complete the Fabric of our Community project that took place a couple of years ago with the Willoughby-Eastlake City School District.
“WAC is really in a growing stage, so we need to have more people understand what we do and reach out to the community more,” Bonander said. “We find that a lot of people going to Downtown Willoughby are familiar with us. When you get out to all the side streets in Willoughby, a lot of people don’t know what we’re about, so we’re trying to make that happen.”
Bonander said it’s an exciting time for Willoughby, the arts and WAC.
“We value the support of the Ohio Arts Council in recognizing the impact of the arts in our community,” she said. “Additionally, we are appreciative of the support and advocacy for the arts from Mayor (Robert) Fiala, and the city.”
For additional inquiries or to get involved in WAC, visit willoughbyartscollaborative.org or contact artscollaborativewilloughby@gmail.com.