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1 <br /> Narrative <br /> I am submitting this proposal for the 2013-2014 grant season for artist fees and <br /> supplies to produce fine art water portraits and documentary style photography for an <br /> Adaptive Aquatics swimming program at the Homestead Pool in Chapel Hill. I am <br /> partnering with Marian Kasiovsky, therapeutic recreation specialist with Chapel Hill <br /> Parks & Recreation, to provide gift portraits for special needs aquatic students and their <br /> volunteer instructors. <br /> Community Based Water Portraiture,Educational Programming, and <br /> Project Proposal <br /> Following a solo art exhibition of my fine art water imagery at the Town of <br /> Chapel Hill in 2010, I met with Jeff York, Cultural Arts Administrator for the Town of <br /> Chapel Hill and Robb English,Aquatic Supervisor for the Chapel Hill Parks and <br /> Recreation to discuss future community and educational projects for the town. In 2011, <br /> with OCAC support, I was able to produce portraits for the Hargraves summer camp <br /> swimming program specifically targeting children of low-income families. At the end of <br /> the summer, we created a slide show for the children with unlimited publicity and usage <br /> rights granted to the Hargraves Center and Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department. <br /> The 2012 Summer Program catalogue cover and inside photos feature this work and a <br /> newspaper article submitted by Terri Saylor for the Carrboro Citizen attached as print out <br /> and online at http•//wxx-w.carrborocitizen.coin/main/2011108/18/from-belly flops-to- <br /> swan-dives" <br /> This year I will be working with a therapeutic recreation specialist to provide art <br /> and programming consultation for the use of photography with children, teens, and <br /> families. I will photograph them and their swimming instructors as they learn to swim <br /> and feel comfortable and safe in the water. Adapted Aquatics is one of the programs <br /> offered. Drowning for children ages 5-14 is the second leading cause of accidental death. <br /> Many of the students in the Adaptive Aquatics class were initially afraid of the water and <br /> were later able to become independent swimmers. Volunteers and a specialized aquatics <br /> teacher help children and teens with a variety of disabilities learn to swim. These aquatics <br /> students get very attached to their volunteers, who often continue working with them for <br /> a number of years. The photographs from this project will be gifted to the students as part <br /> of their achievement certificates and to their volunteer teachers as gifts of recognition. As <br /> well, they will be used for publicity materials for the Adapted Recreation program. <br /> As the project evolves, we will consider additional programming using <br /> photography as a tool for exploration and self-expression for students with disabilities <br /> documenting their home, family, friends,and culture. <br /> Community Impact <br /> As an artist and educator, I was inspired to photograph swimming programs in <br /> public community pools in response to the Make-a-Splash program that was founded by <br /> African American Olympic Medalist Cullen Jones, who almost drowned as a child. <br /> Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death for children. Minority children <br /> are at 3x that rate. Jones' international outreach program and the classes through our <br />