Art grant will pay for Olga Loya, a San Jose-based
story-teller
Gilroy – Olga Loya will showcase her story-telling talents to Gilroy children for the next two months courtesy of a more than $120,000 grant.
The San Jose resident has performed personal tales of the struggles and complexities of having a bicultural background at venues and taught at workshops throughout the nation and Mexico. In February and March Loya will visit Leavesley and Del Buono child care centers.
She will begin her performances Thursday at 11am at Del Buono child care center and will continue the performances every Tuesday and Thursday until March 16 from 11am to noon. Loya will also host a parent workshop on March 7 from 4 to 5pm at Del Buono.
She will begin her performances at Leavesley Thursday at 1:30pm and then every Tuesday and Thursday until March 23 at the same time.
Loya relays colorful, bilingual stories of Latin-American folklore and sometimes magical stories from Africa, India, Asia, the Antilles and Europe. Through the stories, Loya examines a variety of themes such as racism and multiculturalism, according to her Web site.
A variety of engaging story-telling elements are interwoven into the tales including: improvisation, movement and dance, song, and instruments. Loya performs in theaters, universities, festivals, conferences, museums, libraries, and schools.
Loya has also written a book called Momentos Mágicos or Magic Moments, which won a 1998 Aesop Accolade, the International Reading Association award for young adults, and an America’s commendation for young adults.
Arts Council Silicon Valley and FIRST 5 Santa Clara County were both recipients of the Arts Enrichment Grant, which is designed to provide early education arts experiences to 20 preschools and community sites throughout Santa Clara County.
“FIRST 5 Santa Clara County is pleased to be able to offer a high-quality, integrated fine arts program for our youngest children,” said Jolene Smith, executive director FIRST 5 Santa Clara County in a press release.
In addition to increasing the awareness of the importance of early arts education, the AEG program will help early educators examine opportunities to integrate fine arts learning for young children as part of a comprehensive kindergarten readiness curriculum.
Arts Council Silicon Valley was founded in 1982 and is an independent, nonprofit arts agency dedicated to providing funding and advocacy support to the region’s arts organizations and artists. As the local partner with the California Arts Council and Santa Clara County, Arts Council Silicon Valley is now the largest nonprofit arts council in the state.
During the past 13 years the organization has distributed about $8 million to local arts and cultural organizations, artists, schools and other community groups.
For more information about AEG in Gilroy or the events scheduled throughout contact Santa Clara County, call 998-2787 or log onto www.artscouncil.org.
