Art With Impact

San Francisco, California, May 10, 2016 (Newswire.com) -  Since its founding in 2011, Art With Impact (AWI) has become a cutting edge example of the powerful role media arts can play in affecting cultural change. Through AWI's short film competition and library, collectively known as the Online Library for Interactive Video and Engagement, or OLIVE, the organization has awarded cash prizes to 24 emerging filmmakers for their short films on the topic of mental health.  Now AWI's contribution has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), who announced today that Art With Impact will receive a grant of $25,000 as part of the NEA's Art Works category to support the creation of work and presentation of both new and existing work. 

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $82 million to fund local arts projects and partnerships in the NEA’s second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2016.  Included in this announcement is an Art Works award of $25,000 to Art With Impact to enhance and expand OLIVE. 

We are grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts for this grant which will expand OLIVE into a globally accessible, inclusive, interactive online community.

CARY MCQUEEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AWI

“The arts are all around us, enhancing our lives in ways both subtle and obvious, expected and unexpected,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “Supporting projects like the one from Art With Impact offers more opportunities to engage in the arts every day.”

"We are grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts for this grant which will expand OLIVE into a globally accessible, inclusive, interactive online community that will continue to cultivate and showcase the world’s most diverse and compelling collection of short films on mental health, supporting a network of filmmakers, artists, young people, educators, and general viewers and providing opportunities for connection and learning." Said Executive Director and Founder Cary McQueen. "In the US, roughly 50% of people will have a mental health issue at some point in their lives, but cultural stigma often prevents social engagement on this vital topic.  Translating inner worlds and supporting emotional intelligence, art is a powerful medium with which to explore this issue and reverse the stigma that prevents engagement."

OLIVE supports a growing collection of curated short films that explore themes of mental health, and serves as an interactive resource for students, filmmakers, and the general public to engage with short film. Improving accessibility and interactivity, this grant will allow AWI to optimize use of the library for mobile devices and tablets to reach younger and more global audiences, and will expand the library to include audience and filmmaker profiles, online learning materials and educational guides.

The funds will be matched by gifts from individual donors and from Google's in-kind ad program bringing the total award to $50,000.

Art With Impact promotes mental wellness by creating space for young people to learn and connect through art and media. To learn more about Art With Impact, visit www.artwithimpact.org.

Source: Art With Impact