The
$40,000 Arts Appreciation grant will help the organization adapt its
educational programming in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

(Sarasota,
FL) Sarah Wertheimer, the executive director of Embracing Our Differences,
recently announced that the organization has received a $40,000 Arts
Appreciation grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. The grant will
help the organization adapt its educational outreach programming in response to
the COVID-19 crisis.

“The resources we provide to area
educators and students are a top priority for us,” says Wertheimer. “This vital
grant allows us to adapt EOD’s educational outreach programs and initiatives to
virtual and online platforms to reach broad audiences—and it could not have
come at a better time. We’re grateful to the Gulf Coast Community Foundation
for its commitment to diversity education in our community and for providing
the support we need during this critical time.”

Wertheimer says that she’s working
closely with EOD’s education director, Ben Jewell-Plocher, to create programs
that can be accessed via online and virtual platforms. These include annual
teacher workshops and intensives, which provide area educators with skills,
strategies and resources relating to arts appreciation, character building and
diversity education. Some of these initiatives can be seen here: https://www.embracingourdifferences.org/virtual.

Since 2004, EOD’s international, juried
exhibition celebrating the theme of “enriching lives through diversity and
inclusion,” showcases the art and words of thousands of artists and writers
from around the world, including hundreds of area-based students and educators.
The organization’s ongoing education initiatives are also crucial to its
mission. Presented in partnership with regional school districts and nationally
recognized educators, these programs positively impact the lives of thousands
of area teachers and students every year. These initiatives include annual
workshops and retreats that provide arts and diversity curricula for area
educators, bi-county reading initiatives, free bus transportation for students
and teachers to visit area cultural venues, and student service clubs in high
schools.

“Embracing Our Differences continues to
lead as one of southwest Florida’s largest education programs with 950 teachers
and 43,000 students participating in the organization’s exhibit and educational
programs in 2019 alone,” says Wertheimer.

For more information about Embracing Our
Differences, call 941-404-5710, or visit www.embracingourdifferences.org.

About Gulf Coast Community
Foundation

For
25 years, together with its donors, Gulf Coast Community Foundation has
transformed our region through bold and proactive philanthropy. Gulf Coast is a
public charity that was created in 1995 through the sale of the Venice
Hospital. Since then, it has become the philanthropic home of nearly 1,000
families, individuals, organizations, and businesses that have established
charitable funds there, and has invested over $370 million in grants and
initiatives in the areas of health and human services, civic and economic
development, education, arts and culture, and the environment. Learn more at
GulfCoastCF.org.

About
Embracing Our Differences

Embracing Our Differences is a
not-for-profit organization that uses the transformational power of art and
education to celebrate and promote the diversity of the human family. It
accomplishes this through an annual, large-scale outdoor juried art exhibition
and a comprehensive series of educational initiatives, programs and resources
designed for teachers and students. Visit
www.embracingourdifferences.org.

Related