Two area artists, one from Hepburn and one from Waldheim, will be pursuing creative endeavours this winter thanks to separate grants from Sask Arts.

Hepburn artist Kris Moffatt was awarded a $40,000 Artists in Schools – Residencies grant from Sask Arts to work with Mistawasis Nehiyawak High School to “advance student school engagement using art as a means to strengthen language culture and expand students’ spectrum of expression.”

Waldheim media artist Shayne Metcalfe received a $10,000 Independent Artists grant from Sask Arts to create “monologues through an experimental writing and performance process. Scripts will be created from documentary-style interviews of actors and then used for video monologues.”

The two grants were announced in separate news releases from Sask Arts on September 8.

Artists in Schools – Residencies funding assists schools to host an artist-in-residence project by contracting a professional Saskatchewan artist working in any art form to engage collaboratively in arts activities that are linked to educational outcomes.

Independent Artists grants support Saskatchewan artists to pursue their creative work and careers by funding creative, professional development or research projects and the performance of artistic works. These grants support the ongoing development of artistic practice in Saskatchewan.

At the most recent grant deadlines, SK Arts awarded funding to almost 100 individuals and organizations, totaling more than $685,000. SK Arts funding supports a variety of initiatives, including organizations that provide ongoing programs in the arts, the creative work of professional artists, community art projects and the engagement of professional artists to work in schools with students and teachers.

Established in 1948, SK Arts is the oldest public arts funder in North America and second oldest in the world after the Arts Council of Great Britain. We provide grants, programs and services to individuals and groups whose activities have an impact on the arts in Saskatchewan and ensure that opportunities exist for Saskatchewan residents to experience all art forms. For more information, visit:

www.sk-arts.ca.