SAWDUST ART FESTIVAL PARTNERS WITH PROJECT ACCESS TO INSPIRE LOW-INCOME STUDENTS WITH FIRST-HAND ART

Laguna Beach, CA – The Sawdust Art Festival is hosting a group of students from the Project Access Family Resource Center at Warwick Square Apartments, a low-income housing unit in Santa Ana, to participate in a unique two-part class on the festival ground, and to further their first-hand experience of interacting with Laguna Beach artists.

The Project Access group, consisting of ten students between the ages of 13-18, is scheduled to visit the Sawdust Festival on Tuesday, August 7 and again on Tuesday, August 14 to take a class from long-time Sawdust artist and ceramicist Walter Reiss, where they will learn the craft of hand- building clay pottery.

For many of the students at Project Access, this will be the first time they are exposed to high quality art and professional artists. The idea behind this collaborative experience is to offer low-income children the opportunity to spark an interest not only in expressing themselves through art, but also to be inspired to create art as a living. The students were hand-selected based on having a propensity for art.

“With the Sawdust Art Festival’s mission of educating the public on the arts created in Laguna Beach, we were more than happy to extend the talents and resources here at the Sawdust to

Page 2/SAF Project Access support the programs at Project Access. The two organizations are a great fit,” said Maggie Spencer, Sawdust artist and committee member of Sawdust Art Enrichment Fund. Project Access is the leading provider of vital health, education and employment services for families, children and seniors living in low-income housing communities. Their goal is to keep families employed, children in school and seniors active.

Project Access was founded in 1999 by Jonathan B. Webb and has continuously delivered programs and services to our residents by way of family and senior resource centers established in the low- income housing communities where they live, as well as through providing outreach and referral services. Project Access believes in eliminating barriers and setting individuals up for success. Today, Project Access serves residents in more than 40 low-income housing communities in California, which benefited more than 10,200 youth, adults, and seniors in 2011.

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