SALINA, KS- The Salina Art Center has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support “Healing Threads: A Paper Mill for Salina.” The NEA is the federal agency that supports and funds the arts to give all Americans the opportunity to experience creativity and participate in the arts. NEA programs and funding support thousands of activities in communities large and small across the country, including about 30,000 performances and 3,000 exhibitions annually.

The Art Center’s project will establish a community-based program for survivors of all manner of trauma (armed conflict, domestic violence, sexual abuse, cancer, economic hardship, etc.). Participants will make paper by hand from clothing as a cathartic and healing practice. The impetus for the project was a week-long workshop the Peace Paper Project (peacepaperproject.org) conducted at the Warehouse, the Art Center’s live/work space for artists-in-residence, in November 2014. The community’s response to the workshop convinced the Art Center of a need for ongoing opportunities for papermaking as a transformative and healing experience.

NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, “I’m pleased to be able to share the news of this award to the Salina Art Center. In each community the arts have the power to create new avenues for economic health and physical vibrancy, and for people to feel a sense of pride in their locality. This grant demonstrates this power and affirms that the arts are part of our everyday lives.”

Salina Art Center Executive Director Bill North said, “The Art Center is grateful for the NEA’s support of this important project. This grant will enable us to put into action the community’s belief that the arts have the power to transform and heal.”

To learn more about the National Endowment for the Arts, please visit the NEA website at arts.gov. Follow the conversation about this and other NEA-funded projects on Twitter at @NEAarts.