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Art Hive logo with drawn bee

2024 Green Grants Award #1 Goes to the Art Hive!

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Art Hive logo with drawn beeThis is one of our favorite times of year!  The Green Grants applications have been submitted by groups from cities and counties across Virginia, the panel of expert judges has evaluated and scored the applications,  KVB staff has tallied all the scores in all the categories and sorted out the best.  Now it’s time to announce the awards!  We’ll announce one award each day in June on our Latest News Blog and on social media channels until all thirty 2024 Green Grants are named!

Our first award goes to the Art Hive Creative Reuse & Art Center in Staunton for $1,000 in the Recycling and Waste Reduction category!

Friends since high school and artists themselves, Kirsten Schneider and Mary Pearce joined forces to start a creative reuse and art center in Staunton as there were no art supply resources in the City. The center is a hub for traditionally non-recyclable materials, such as paint, fabric, and wood, and it also serves as a catalyst for alternative and emerging artists, creators, and craftspeople.  They encourage people to get crafty with innovative classes & reuse projects, connect with artists in our community hub and share ideas and materials, and discover unique boutique items from local artists.

In honor of Art Hive’s upcoming first anniversary in July 2024, they will host creative workshops at no charge every weekend throughout the month. These workshops will welcome community members of all ages to participate.  Each project will utilize materials that might otherwise end up in the local landfill. From discarded treasures, we’ll craft new masterpieces!  Designed to be inclusive, these projects will cater to individuals of all ages and skill levels.

Grant funds will be used for supplies to supplement upcycled materials and offer a small stipend to guest instructors.  They anticipate over 100 participants over the course of four weekends in July, and aim to repurpose an estimated 100 pounds of materials that would otherwise have ended up in the landfill.

We can’t wait to see what they create!

Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $307,000 for 415 programs and projects throughout the state.  We are grateful to the sponsors of our 2024 Green Grants Program!
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06-02-23 Art Guild

Art Guild of Greene Awarded $1,000 Green Grant

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The Art Guild of Greene is awarded a $1,000 Green Grant in the Recycling Category as part of our 13th Annual Green Grants Program!

The Art Guild of Greene has been a supporter of the art departments in the five Greene County School District since it was organized in 2012.  It support the teachers financially each semester in order for them to purchase supplies that are not covered in the school’s budget.  Each art teacher has been “adopted” by an Art Guild Of Greene Board Member, who keeps in touch with them to stay aware of the needs for that department.

Through this contact, it was discovered that the Primary School’s art teacher’s classroom is located in a trailer that doesn’t have running water.  The teacher transports water to the classroom for each class session, disposing of it outside after classes have ended.  The teacher also uses disposable hand wipes to clean the students’ hands after they participate in art projects.

With funds provided by this grant award, The Art Guild of Greene a rain barrel will be installed to capture rain draining off the art classroom roof, and will provide clean running water in trailer to use when painting and washing the students’ hands.  When the rain barrel water is collected and connected to the sink and drain, it will provide the water necessary for painting and other art projects, and eliminate the need for disposable hand wipes.

Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation Department made a donation  of the rain barrel.  Gutters will be installed on both the front and the rear of the Art Trailer, with connected downspouts that feed into the rain barrel; and an existing  sink will be modified with a functioning drain system beneath the trailer onto the asphalt foundation by a local plumber.

Having water available from the rain barrel to the Art Trailer for students to use for their art work will not only be easier on the art instructor, it will eliminate the need for disposable hand wipes, and reduce the amount of paper towels in the classroom.

Students in front of LOVE artwork they built

More LOVE for the Environment

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Students in front of LOVE artwork they built

With over 300 LOVEworks installed across the Commonwealth, it’s easy to see how much LOVE there is to go around.  And a new one is about to be unveiled on Earth Day because of a challenge set by askHRgreen.org, a public awareness program of the 17 local governments in Hampton Roads that’s administered through the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC).  The nonprofit encourages environmental stewardship among all residents in southeastern Virginia.

Rebekah Eastep, Senior Environmental Education Planner for Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, said that askHRgreen.org placed a call for artists last fall to find a local talent to create a recycling-themed LOVE sign as part of the “Start Smart, Recycle Right” public awareness campaign. The Start Smart, Recycle Right campaign encourages residents to create less waste and recycle only those items accepted in their local recycling program – most often paper, plastic bottles, and metal cans.

That call was answered earlier this year by Tom Shirk and his students from Suffolk Public Schools’ College & Career Academy at Pruden (CCAP).  They were selected as the winner of this unique art challenge. The team received a $2,500 stipend to cover costs for materials, along with additional recyclable materials to complete the sculpture.

Since January, Mr. Shirk and his team of student welders have been hard at work welding materials to spell out the word LOVE, with a heart-shaped “O.”  The see-through design is filled with recyclable beverage cans and plastic bottles and secured with a lightweight mesh to tie the whole concept together.

The LOVE sign is 8’ x 5’ and ready to start its journey across Hampton Roads to encourage recycling and waste reduction. Its design and construction complemented state-mandated work standards for welding that included stick, Mig and Tig welding, as well as Oxy/fuel and Plasma cutting. Mr. Shirk shared that “the LOVE project for askHRgreen.org was an amazing opportunity for the students to apply the welding techniques they learned in the classroom” and that students “had the opportunity to operate with such confidence in their abilities while also understanding the connection to the larger message of recycling bottles and cans.”

TFC Recycling, a partner in the Start Smart, Recycle Right campaign, was thrilled to see the thoughtful approach students took when creating the LOVE sign. President and CEO Michael Benedetto commented that the sign will be a meaningful way to start conversations about which items are recyclable in local recycling programs.

The LOVE sign will have its first public “reveal” on Saturday, April 22, during the Suffolk Earth and Arts Festival at Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church, 3488 Godwin Blvd. in Suffolk. In the coming months, the LOVE sign will be making appearances across the Hampton Roads area at different events and attractions. People who visit the LOVE sign are encouraged to post to social media using the hashtag #RecyclingIsForLovers.

You can also take a look at the map of LOVEwork installations in Virginia to find other LOVEworks near you, or to choose as a destination for your next road trip!

Hands all together

$1,000 Grant Goes to Virginia Community Voice

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Hands all togetherCongratulations to Virginia Community Voice being selected by the panel of judges as one of the thirty grants being awarded in our 2022 Green Grant Program!

The mission of Virginia Community Voice is to equip neighbors in marginalized communities to realize their vision for their neighborhoods and prepare institutions to respond effectively. Their vision is a Commonwealth where decisions are made equitably.

For the “Youth-led Creative Placemaking in South Richmond” project, approximately a dozen Black and Latine youth between ages 14-18 living on the Richmond Highway Corridor will participate. The RHC is a historically marginalized community, with lower incomes, higher poverty, and poorer life outcomes than the rest of Richmond. Richmond’s Southside has been designated as a heat desert with lower tree canopy and less public green space than other areas of the city. RHC’s youth come from modest-income homes, with no creative placemaking programs available to them with the exception of programs through Virginia Community Voice.

The Green Grant Community Beautification project will involve youth in the development and design of artwork for Broad Rock Creek Park, a newly designated city park in South Richmond. Youth will work with artist co-leads to design and install art on topics relevant to them and their vision for Southside as a whole and for the park.  Grant funds will be used to purchase supplies for planning and designing the mural, as well as for paint, paintbrushes, spray paint, painter’s tape, stencils to complete the artwork.

Artist co-leads will facilitate conversation and design activities, encouraging youth to take the lead on art and space design. Youth will create public art installations in the new park, will learn about the historical significance of greenspace and how to create inviting public spaces that are inclusive of people of all ages, identities, abilities and language.

In addition to the completion of this creative placemaking project, we will measure youth’s increase in civic advocacy skills. Civic advocacy skills will be measured by pre- and post-surveys and conversations asking about knowledge of different ways to engage with communities and public officials, and self-efficacy for advocacy.

Good luck completing your artwork at Broad Rock Creek Park this summer, we can’t wait to see the beautiful mural that the youth of Richmond Highway Corridor will create!