Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation Contributes to Artworks Anywhere

July 28, 2021 – Sarasota

With schools out for summer, the Van Wezel Foundation today highlighted a contribution made by the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation to support Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall’s Artworks Anywhere. Artworks Anywhere is a free, live-streaming and on-demand video library of arts-focused learning activities available for teachers, educators, and families, that is available year-round and is updated with new content each week.

The Van Wezel launched Artworks Anywhere during the pandemic to ensure arts education remained accessible to the Sarasota community and beyond and has created over 130 recorded lessons with over 15,000 views.

“We are deeply grateful to the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation for investing in the Artworks Anywhere program, which was originally launched during the pandemic to aid in remote learning but has broadened to be a critical arts education platform in our digital age and with new generations,” said Cheryl Mendelson, CEO of the Van Wezel Foundation. “The Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation’s generous investment will go toward expanding the Artworks Anywhere program so that we can serve more students, educators and families, during the summer months when schools are out and beyond.”

To date, content has been utilized by both students and parents learning from home, and students and teachers learning in the classroom. Learning with either option can be supplemented with activity sheets and lesson plans to use in conjunction with the virtual content.

“We are honored to be partners with the Van Wezel Foundation and to continue to support arts education programs through our P/Arts program,” said Eileen Daly, co-trustee of the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation. “Our Foundation seeks to promote and expand on programs and services that support the use and intersection of education and the arts. The importance of engaged learning and the success of programs like Artworks Anywhere was a shining light of hope for so many kids over the past year struggling to stay engaged while learning from home.”

Artworks Anywhere is the perfect out of school program, especially for those that can’t afford or don’t have access to summer programs and are learning through the arts at home. Artworks Anywhere’s library houses content that can tap into creativity while presenting language arts, math or science in a way geared for retention and understanding, keeping students learning throughout the summer.

Artworks Anywhere is made possible through the philanthropy of the Van Wezel Foundation, which is a non-profit focused on creating and sustaining a vibrant performing arts center, advancing education, and enriching communities by inspiring minds through the power of the arts.

To learn more about Van Wezel’s Artworks Anywhere and other learning resources provided to the community, visitArtworksAnywhere.org. The Van Wezel Foundation is actively raising funds to expand the library of teaching artist videos for children. Visit www.vwfoundation.org/donate to learn more and make a gift.