COCC finds new funding source to replace cut federal grant for rural arts-focused summer camps
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A recently canceled $10,000 federal grant awarded to Central Oregon Community College’s rural youth camps from the National Endowment for the Arts, eliminated due to federal program cuts, is being fulfilled by emergency funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation.
COCC said Thursday that its program was one of just 80 nationwide to receive the stand-in support.
Replacing the “Challenge America” award from the NEA — announced by the college in January as the first-ever grant from that agency — the aid will be used to develop and expand art-focused summer youth camps at COCC’s branch campuses, including offering camps for free or at reduced cost for rural families.
The grant will allow students from Jefferson and Crook counties, age 10-15, to attend a multi-day nature journaling and sketching “Field Notes” camp, held in August.
Families can view all camps and register at cocc.edu/youth; space is limited for all camps.
“We are so grateful to the Andy Warhol and Helen Frankenthaler foundations for helping us bring these impactful art-focused summer youth camps to COCC’s Madras and Prineville campuses,” said Stephanie Goetsch, director of community education at COCC, who oversees the college’s full schedule of summer camps. “And we were extra-thankful after learning that we were the only grantee in Oregon.”
The grant complements a three-year, $30,000 grant from the Roundhouse Foundation of Sisters, Goetsch added, that was awarded in 2024 to support rural students and develop camp programming in those communities. This funding keeps rural camps at low cost to families in Jefferson and Crook counties.
In all, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation announced $800,000 in joint funds to fill in for canceled or delayed federal grants, supporting programs from Berwick, Pennsylvania, to Kentwood, Michigan.
“The Warhol Foundation recognizes the essential contributions that small arts organizations make to our cultural lifeblood by giving artists in every corner of the country a platform from which to be seen and heard,” said Joel Wachs, president of the Andy Warhol Foundation.
“In times of crisis — whether in response to natural disaster, global pandemic or financial disruption — foundations do their best work when they come together to assert shared values,” said Elizabeth Smith, executive director of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation.
For more information, contact Stephanie Goetsch, director of community education at COCC, at 541-504-2966 or sgoetsch@cocc.edu.
