Almanor Recreation and Park District (ARPD) is pleased to be a recipient of a $15,000 grant award from the Upstate California Creative Corps which will be used to create two public murals by local artist and Chester High School art teacher Hillary Edwards.

The grant will fund all supplies and a stipend for the lead artist. Edwards is coordinating a team of high school art students and representatives from the Maidu Community who will help design and create two public murals on existing Connex containers measuring 9.5’ x 20’ each. These “canvases” sit adjacent to our new community garden at Almanor Park in Chester.

One mural faces the garden and will be an integral part of the experience, showcasing the importance of a healthy lifestyle through outdoor activity, healthy eating and social interaction through community gardening. The second mural, facing the street and ball parks, will celebrate the history and culture of the community.

Working with input from members of the Maidu Summit community, Hillary has created a mural depicting the modern role of the Maidu in land stewardship.

County arts agencies across California’s Upstate Region, led by Nevada County Arts Council, announced $3.38 million in grant awards to 27 partner agencies and 54 lead creative partners, with a total of 1,010 artists and culture bearers supporting initiatives serving California’s least represented peoples, and most vulnerable communities and environments.

California Arts Council views the Upstate California Creative Corps program as a job creation and human infrastructure development opportunity. Region by region, the program is increasing the ways in which artists are engaged in public work, so that they can continue build upon intersectional public interest goals beyond its pilot funding timeline.

Katrina Schneider, a core member of Upstate California Creative Corps’ team, says: “A unique factor in the way we designed our program has been about building capacity for our smallest agencies, who successfully applied alongside much larger more established entities, with or without the support of a grant writer, as well as a slew of individual artists and culture bearers, working solo and in tandem as serious change makers without previous access to funds and resources.”

The Comunity Garden Mural is complete (see photos to the right) and the second mural is scheduled to be completed before the holidays, weather permitting.