San Juan Island elementary and middle school students will benefit from a recent grant to San Juan Islands Museum of Art, earmarked for support of the K-12 art program.

A charitable foundation that supports educational projects provided $25,000 to extend, enrich, strengthen, and continue art education for public school students.

When dramatic cuts in educational funding four years ago threatened to curtail or eliminate art education from elementary and middle school curricula, IMA spearheaded the effort to assure that island youth would continue to have access to quality visual arts enrichment experiences.

“Support for public school arts education has always been a major focus of IMA,” said Barb Ray of the IMA Board of Trustees.

In partnership with San Juan Island School District and with additional support from the San Juan Island Community Foundation, the SJICF Women’s Fund, Washington State Arts Commission, local PTA organizations and others, IMA has enabled over 550 local students to engage in a variety of arts activities and learning opportunities under the guidance of qualified artist/teachers.

“We are very gratified that our efforts in school art education have been recognized,” said Charles Bodenstab, acting executive director of IMA. “This generous grant will allow us to continue and further enhance opportunities for our enthusiastic students to explore a variety of current and future arts activities.”