NCCC to receive arts grant

Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, announced Nov. 24 that Niagara County Community College has been approved for a grant of $10,000 to support "Fibers and Content: Papermaking and Printmaking as Social Engagement."

A two-week artist residency is planned for Jan. 31 to Feb. 11 in the NCCC Arts and Media Building lobby on the Sanborn campus. NCCC will host the Combat Paper Project, a collaborative arts organization that utilizes traditional hand papermaking techniques to work with populations that have survived trauma due to conflict. Combat Paper will facilitate a weeklong workshop using military uniforms that were once worn in service and transforming them into handmade paper.

The second week of residency will involve using the paper made during the Combat Paper residency for the printmaking processes. Local artists Hyeyoung Shin and Anne Muntges will use print processes to create broadsides that use texts and visual responses from the Combat Paper workshop, which will then be printed on the handmade paper. Community members will be invited to learn about the process of traditional relief printmaking as a medium for expression.

NCCC faculty member and project coordinator Barbara Rowe said, "We are thrilled to have the support of NEA to bring this important project to the community of Niagara County. This will surely be an exciting collaboration with artists, veterans, and community members using art to help heal, reveal and inform about veteran experiences."