THE Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture was recently awarded a $60,000 grant from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies to implement “Creative Aging in the Marianas” project activities.
The council submitted its “Leveraging State Investments in Creative Aging” grant proposal on Dec. 23, 2020, which focused primarily on manamko’ artists.
In the proposal, the council said that the creative aging needs in the Commonwealth had always been program funding, even with the support of grants through the CNMI Office on Aging.
“Through this grant, we know that it will help restart some art programs that were put [on] hold due to funding issues and also begin new programs that were planned before but were never initiated due to funding,” the council wrote in its proposal.
For the past 15 years, the council has been collaborating with the CNMI Office of Aging on programs and activities that focus on the elderly, such as the annual Manamko’ Art Exhibit, performances at the Flame Tree Arts Festival, as well as after-school programs that concentrate on passing down the elders’ knowledge and skills to the younger generations of artists, while also preserving indigenous cultures and traditions.
Through this partnership with the CNMI Office on Aging, many elderly artists have gone to the council to officially register themselves as artists.
“It’s through these master artists that we are able to continue the work of passing down the knowledge and skills they have mastered over the years to the new wave of young emerging artists eager to learn new skills and master their own style of creativity,” the council wrote in its proposal.
The grant would also allow other stakeholders to get involved and assist in village programs that support creative aging.
With this grant, the council said that it would take on a number of projects and activities, including a wall art project, a performance art program, painting for stress relief and overall better health, and intergenerational activities.
The wall art project would have elderly artists produce artwork and paintings depicting their history and culture, with the hopes of giving the manamko’ a sense of pride, representation, and self-expression. The art pieces will be hung around the manamko’ centers on Rota, Saipan, and Tinian.
A public open house will be conducted to give community members the chance to see the artwork.
The performance art program will enable the manamko’ to create artistic and creative props to be used during stage plays and other theater performances throughout the year, with the hopes of enhancing and maintaining the elders’ creative structure and well-being, as well as encouraging their self-expression and interactive cognitive social behavior among their peers.
Painting for stress relief and overall better health is also included in the funding, allowing the manamko’ to produce artwork outdoors, in a less stressful environment.
The intergenerational activities are a series of artistic engagements to which Arts Council Executive Director Parker Y. Yobei said he is especially looking forward, as these will give the manamko’ the opportunity to pass on their knowledge and skill sets to the younger generations.
“I want to see our manamko’ work with the younger generations not only to learn the arts but also to share stories behind the arts that they’re doing and how they’ve been doing it over the years. It’s sharing experiences as they grew in the arts, and just sharing stories comparing today and their days, hopefully [will encourage] the younger generations to be better artists and better members of the community,” he said.
“Our seniors possess a wealth of knowledge that was passed down to them from their elders before. To cultivate this knowledge and apply it through painting, weaving, carving, beading, or any form of art is… evidence of [this legacy],” the council wrote in its proposal.
All eligible costs through this grant must be incurred between the effective date and Aug. 31, 2022, or the date when all project activities have been completed, whichever occurs first.
The grant contract will end on Sept. 30, 2022, or the date that all obligations have been satisfactorily fulfilled, whichever occurs first.
However, Yobei said the council will most likely ask for a six-month extension, noting that the agency is typically quite flexible about granting extensions due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
This contract requires that the council agree to project evaluation and reporting requirements, terms of grant activities and the use of grant funds, and comply to both state and federal laws.
For more information, visit www.cnmiartscouncil.org or contact the Arts Council at 322-9982/9983.
The Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture aims to develop and foster art programs and activities in the CNMI.
