Surel’s Place is an artist-in-residency program on the banks of the Boise River in Garden City. The organization applied for their first NEA grant in 2017, knowing the likelihood of getting one in the first application was quite low.
So when Executive Director Rebecca Kelada found out they were one of three Idaho groups selected, it felt like the group had made it to a new level.
“It’s significant," says Kelada, "because it represents national recognition that Surel’s Place and really our whole art community in Boise and Garden City is gaining.”
She says the $10,000 grant will be used to bolster outreach events in schools in the area, and help to expand their staff.
Surel’s Place is named for Kelada’s late mother Surel Mitchell – a local painter who built her home as a place to create her art. She says she knows her mom would be proud of their accomplishment.
“She also knows how competitive the art world is, and how hard it is to get this sort of validation from an organization like the National Endowment of the Arts. And she would be thrilled and proud and absolutely delighted to know that she inspired this.”
Festival Dance in Moscow and Opera Idaho are the other two organizations that received grants from the NEA.
Find reporter Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill
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