For the
past few years, the Town of Ashland has provided grant funding to
CultureWorks Richmond to bring an arts and culture event to a community in Ashland. The Town is proud to support CultureWorks' mission to strengthen artists and arts and culture organizations and to help make arts and culture accessible to everyone across the region by listening to under-resourced communities, lifting up under-represented voices, and ensuring that all youth can participate.
This year, the Town and CultureWorks collaborated to provide music, dance, and art activities at the end-of-year celebration event at Henry Clay and John M. GandyElementary Schools. Showcasing the Richmond region's vibrant and diverse arts and culture scene,
Petersburg Symphony Orchestra,
ART on Wheels, and
Brown Ballerinas for Change performed and provided interactive experiences at the event.
"The Town of Ashland recognizes the importance of providing access to the arts for all community members," said Martha J. Miller, Ashland's Community Engagement Manager. "With the support of our grant funding, CultureWorks Richmond has been instrumental in making this vision a reality, and especially this year by bringing music, dance, and art activities to our local public elementary schools."
Organized by the
Hanover County Public Schools Family Engagement team and administration from both schools, the end-of-year celebration brings together families and school staff for socializing, connection, and community building before the summer break.
"While the Town government does not oversee the public school system here as that's the purview of our partners in Hanover County, it is still vitally important that we build and maintain strong connections with school staff and families as they are a huge part of our community," Ms. Miller added. "We are so grateful to Hanover County Public Schools and Principals Kristin Haas and Leigh Finch for their openness to the Town's involvement and participation in this fantastic event for the last two years. I look forward to continuing to collaborate to help meet this community's needs whenever possible."
The Town would also like to thank the Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, ART on Wheels, and Brown Ballerinas for Change for helping the Town and CultureWorks further our shared goal of improving access to the arts and arts education for all communities in the Center of the Universe!