SLOMA receives grant funding for April Banks collaboration and Second Saturday events 

Leann Standish and Emma Saperstein got the notification at the same time.

"It was a pretty loud reaction," Standish said with a laugh. "I think we posted a picture on the museum's Instagram page of us running across the front lawn shouting in pure joy."

The pair had just finished installing Adam Parker Smith's David sculpture as part of the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art's latest public art installation. The news they received could not have arrived at a more perfect time, according to Standish.

click to enlarge

• Photos Courtesy Of April Banks
• DELIGHTFUL DESIGN April Banks' work, like A Resurrection (pictured here in Los Angeles), commemorates a Black community erased by eminent domain—a theme that will be present in her future work Braiding Water.

They had just been informed that SLOMA received two grants—one providing $75,000 from the National Endowment for Arts' Our Town program and the other providing $40,000 in funding via the California Arts Council's Creative Youth Development program.

"It is a big deal for our tiny museum," Standish said. "To be recognized at such a large scale by a national grant is a huge deal for us."

According to Standish, the Our Town grant will support Artist April Banks' Braiding Water project—a collaboration between Banks, SLOMA, and R.A.C.E. Matters SLO.

"Each application period is very limited in who gets approved, and it's a very rigorous process to even apply, as only 57 grants were given out in the U.S.," Standish said. "We are very happy to have validation from the gold standard."

April Banks is an abstract artist from LA who blends visual art and social engagement. The resulting art exists "between image, space, and experience," according to her website. Her work has been showcased in places including San Francisco, Chicago, Colombia, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and most recently LA.

Braiding Water is the brainchild of Banks, who described it as a community exhibition and public art project that focuses on combining an artistic representation of water and the relationship local BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) communities have with it.

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• Photos Courtesy Of April Banks
• CREATIVE COLLABORATION Thanks to grants secured by SLOMA, artist April Banks will be able to put her sculptures like A Resurrection (pictured here in Los Angeles) on the front lawn of the museum.

"The funding will help crystalize the work she has done and the community and allow her to showcase her art in more ways than just the public art installation," Standish said.

She added that SLOMA wanted to work with Banks on a public art installation on the museum's front lawn, but funding had always been an issue.

According to R.A.C.E. Matters SLO Executive Director Courtney Haile—who is coordinating efforts with Banks and SLOMA for Braiding Water—the funding will not only ensure the project is doable, it will also enhance the initial art piece into a multi-month exhibition.

"This fund would give the project justice," Haile said. "April is a visionary, and we are so lucky to have her guide us through this process."

Haile praised SLOMA for applying for the grant, noting how much it means to SLO's BIPOC community to have an exhibition like this properly funded and supported. They plan to formally announce the entire exhibition later this year.

"We are very excited and well on our way with the Braiding Water project," Haile said. "Later in the summer, we are going to have a better idea of the final details, but for now we are very excited to extend the project well into 2023 and 2024."

According to Standish, focusing on the future is also a big part of the Creative Youth Development program grant SLOMA received, which will play a major factor in the museum's Second Saturday events.

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• Photo By Adrian Rosas
• SCULPTURE HAVEN Currently serving as the host for Adam Parker Smith's David, the SLOMA's front lawn will host an art piece from April Banks later this year.

The events—which the museum started in 2021—are often art activities for youth that tend to correspond with the museum's current exhibitions.

"It's a completely self-constrained art-making activity usually aimed at kids, although I honestly do each of them myself," she said with a laugh. "They are these lovely little start kits aimed at exploring different mediums of art."

Standish said that, over the years, the number of kids that show up for each event—not including how many parents or guardians they bring along—has grown so much that funding will be integral to increasing the capacity and scale of Second Saturdays.

"The numbers for the Second Saturday events have continued to increase," Standish said. "When we started the event we had 30 to 50 kids participating, but now it's up 80 to 100."

Thanks in part to the funds provided by the grant, Standish and SLOMA are excited to not only increase the size of Second Saturdays but also add locations where the event is held.

"We also want to bring the program to areas outside of the museum with pop-ups in the north and south counties," she said. "That's what this funding is about—reaching more families and increasing our impact." Δ

Staff Writer Adrian Vincent Rosas is thinking about ways he can increase his impact on the creative community around him. Reach him at [email protected].