Published: June 02, 2008 11:50 pm      

Area schools, libraries to take part in arts initiative

The National Endowment for the Humanities announced Monday that 26,320 schools and public libraries across the nation will receive Picturing America.

The free initiative helps teach American history and culture by bringing some of the country’s great art directly to classrooms and libraries, according to a news release.

Among the recipients are 14 locations in this region. By town, they are:

Cresson: Penn Cambria High School Library.

Ebensburg: Bishop Carroll High School and Cambria Elementary School.

Fishertown: Chestnut Ridge Middle School.

Johnstown: Cambria County Library, Ferndale Area High School, Greater Johnstown Middle School and Our Mother of Sorrows School.

New Paris: Chestnut Ridge High School.

Portage: Portage Area School District.

Shanksville: Shanksville Elementary School, Shanksville High School and the Shanksville Public Library.

Windber: Windber Public Library.

Awardees will receive, by August, 40 large, high-quality reproductions of great American art and a comprehensive teachers resource book to facilitate the use of the works of art in core subjects. Additional education resources also are available through the Picturing America Web site, PicturingAmerica.neh.gov.

“Works of art are more than mere ornaments for the elite; they are primary documents of a civilization,” NEH Chairman Bruce Cole said in the release. “A written record or a textbook tells you one thing, but art reveals something else. Our students and citizens deserve to see American art that shows us where we have come from, what we have endured and where we are headed.”