Creative Connections Receives U.S. Department of State Grant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 13, 2018

Contact
Polly Loughran
ploughran@creativeconnections.org
(203) 803-4376

Creative Connections Receives U.S. Department of State Grant to Launch Arts-Based Heritage Preservation Program in Nepal

NORWALK, CT – Today, Creative Connections is pleased to announce that it is one of five organizations to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of State to run a new, arts-based cultural heritage preservation program between students in Nepal and the United States.

Thirty high school students from the Mandala Theatre in Kathmandu, Nepal and the Regional Center for the Arts in Trumbull, CT will engage in Creative Connections’ newest program, “Heritage Preservation: A Creative Approach,” which utilizes the power of the arts to enable participants to better understand their own and others’ cultures. Through the use of art, dance, music and theatre techniques, students will explore–virtually and in-person–how inter-generational and societal tensions can be addressed through a better understanding and appreciation of cultural differences and of common values. Participants will also put together and facilitate one-day workshop residences at four local schools in both countries, encouraging local students to carry on the work of heritage preservation in their own lives.

“This grant allows us to build on our current ArtLink programing and to explore and develop a more in-depth cultural heritage component then we have done to date. We are deeply honored to receive this funding and look forward to beginning our work in Nepal and Trumbull­­­,” said Alan Steckler, CEO of Creative Connections.

Creative Connections will join a cohort of four other organizations as part of the Communities Connecting Heritage program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by World Learning. The Communities Connecting Heritage (CCH) program empowers youth to protect the cultural heritage of underserved communities around the world. Through virtual and in-person exchanges and exhibitions, the program supports new partnerships between U.S. and international cultural organizations and the communities they serve.

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Creative Connections, an international nonprofit, connects students in the USA with their international peers through the exchange of art and ideas. Their mission is to help students become global citizens who are prepared to learn, live, work and thrive in the 21st Century. For more information on Creative Connections, visit www.creativeconnections.org or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more information on the Heritage Preservation: A Creative Approach program, visit Creativeconnections.org/creative-connections-programs/nepal/.