2017-022-E Arts - Chinese School at Chapel Hill - Fall 2016 Arts Grant Agreement

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DocuSign Envelope ID:909E237B-463D-4B50-982B-EC089340083F rr Jessica Anderson 101 Eastridge Place Chapel Hill,NC 27516 Phone 919.391.0118 j andersonAtownofchapelhill.org November 23,2016 Orange County Arts Commission IY 200 S. Cameron Street Hillsborough,NC 27278 RE: Support for 2017 Chapel Hill's LIGHTUP Lantern Festival Dear Orange County Arts Commission, I am writing to show my full support to 2017 Chapel Hill's LIGHTUP Lantern Festival hosted by the Chinese School at Chapel Hill. The festival is a community project to promote cultural diversity and celebrate Chinese New Year. I believe its well-designed cultural, artistic and educational programs will bring together people and communities of different backgrounds. I first met the Chinese School community during the 2015 local election season. The school hosted a community forum inviting all mayor and town council candidates to interact with the local Chinese community. I was very impressed with this well-organized forum. Elementary school students were helping at the school voter registration desk,and high school students taking notes at the forum. One of the questions from the community was how to celebrate cultural diversity. I thought that a holiday festival,to be held around the Chinese New Year,may be a good platform. Mayor Hemminger and I proposed this idea to the Chinese School in May of 2016 and received enthusiastic responses from parents. The festival organizers set the festival's vision to bring different parts of the community together via participating in a shared celebration. The theme of lighting up blessing lanterns and warmth in every heart has already brought many volunteers and institutions to event planning and content production. I heard the festival has recruited more than one hundred volunteers. They are receiving support and advice from Chapel Hill Park& Recreation Department. When I introduced them to the FRANK Gallery,the artists were very excited at this community project and their sample lantern arts. Eleven artists have decided to volunteer hosting lantern decoration booths at the festival. I also connected them with Chapel Hill Library,who plans to host a"Good Day Chapel Hill"live studio using one of the large LED screens from a LED vendor who [- sponsors the event. Five Chapel Hill public schools are participating in lantern decoration. Their lantern arts will go for silent auction on the Festival Day. All proceeds will go back to the individual schools for future arts projects. Kidzu Children's Museum is planning a fantastic technology light-up booth. The Confucius Institute at NC State,UNC and Duke Chinese Students and Scholars Associations,the Mandarin Dual Language Program at Glenwood Elementary,Chapel Hill Chinese Language&Culture School,RedApple Learning Campus,and local Chinese arts and performance clubs and associations will all participate in festival content production. The collaboration offered by different institutions is another testimony of the festival's compelling call to bring community together.