Pablo arts organization receives grant for teen cultural project

PABLO — A new summer youth program for creative expression will be funded by the Montana Fund for Tolerance. Indian and White teens recruited for "Voices and Visions" will write about and photograph various aspects of life on the Flathead Reservation.

Created by A VOICE - Art Vision and Outreach in Community Education - the two-week project will employ photography and writing as expressive tools to help young people talk about issues surrounding culture and race. The program is spearheaded by David Spear, a widely published photographer and educator who lives in Polson and teaches part-time at Salish Kootenai College. He will be assisted in the project by Jennifer Greene, a poet born and raised on the Flathead Reservation. Greene is a fulltime educator at Salish Kootenai College.

A VOICE is one of six schools and organizations in Montana that received grants from the Fund for Tolerance, a special interest fund that supports youth programs that dismantle bigotry and build acceptance. "Discrimination in any form diminishes us all," said Linda Reed, president and CEO of the Montana Community Foundation, parent organization of the Fund for Tolerance. "We're focusing on young people because that is when we believe the biggest impact can be made." The Fund was built with donations from Montanans across the state and foundations such as the Otto Bremer Foundation.

The Helena-based Montana Community Foundation works with donors, charitable organizations, cities and towns to promote community development and the expansion of endowed philanthropy. The statewide organization manages more than 550 endowment funds and total assets of more than $55 million. The Fund for Tolerance is one of three special interest funds created by the Foundation to address specific issues. The other two are the Women's Foundation of Montana, a permanent funding source for agencies working on behalf of women and girls, and the Renaissance Fund, which supports rural community vitality.