Central Florida Community Arts
Programming Funded: Arts and Wellness Collective Expansion
Year Funded: 2020
How PSF helped achieve the programming goal:
In 2020, the generous grant from the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation guaranteed the continuation and expansion of Central Florida Community Arts’ Arts & Wellness programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning in March, we moved these crucial programs online and continued to reach participants through our partner organizations. In Fall of 2020, we launched a virtual palette of arts and wellness offerings for local nonprofits to select from according to their needs and the populations they serve. All of these activities took place under the scope of the Arts & Wellness Collective, CFCArts’ initiative to grow, research, and disseminate information about arts programs for mental and physical well-being. The collective’s work could not have begun at a more crucial time for many in our community, who continue to suffer from the impacts of loneliness and long-term isolation.
Through the support of the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation, we were able to grow our programming from 12 to 20 recurring participants from season to season with over 50 unique individuals impacted by the programming. With the use of the Collective and our partners, we were able to reach students from across Florida in addition to three other states.
One such student we met through this expansion was Courtney Coil. While she lives in Central Florida, traveling to a downtown location is challenging. From 2020 to today, she is actively involved in our UpBeat! Virtual program. Here is her story:
