The California Arts Council announced it plans to award $40,000 to AmadorArts as part of its new Creative California Communities program. This award will support AmadorArts’ “River Reflections” project, to showcase the arts to build awareness and appreciation of the Mokelumne River among the 1.4 million people who depend on its water including Amador, Calaveras, and the East Bay Area.

The California Arts Council received 157 applications for this highly competitive grant program, which is supported by one-time funds from the California State Assembly. The 24 projects supported by this grant program will reach nineteen counties across California.

 In this collaborative “River Reflections” project, the Arts Councils of Amador and Calaveras Counties, the Foothill Conservancy, a local environmental non-profit, and the East Bay Municipal Utility District, will work together to highlight - through the arts - the beauty of the river, as well as the environmental and water use issues, and encourage visitors to the region to experience the watershed for themselves.

 Juried works of artists inspired by the river will be showcased in three one-month-long exhibits this coming winter, and at a grand finale event in the spring of 2015.  The “River Reflections” project will give artists of all disciplines from Amador, Calaveras and the East Bay region, the opportunity to draw inspiration from the river at a series of events and then to produce new work to be exhibited in all three regions. The California Arts Council grant funds will be used to compensate artists, create inspirational events and art exhibitions, and pay for project coordination, promotion and documentation.

 When Terra Forgette, Executive Director of AmadorArts heard the news, she said, "I am so excited about this project.  I grew up on the Mokelumne River and look forward to seeing how the many talented artists in Amador and Calaveras and beyond are inspired by it. The next step will be a Call for Artists."

“The Creative California Communities program supports many significant projects in large and small communities across California, demonstrating the power of the arts to transform our state,” said Wylie Aitken, Chair of the California Arts Council.”