The Telluride Council for the Arts and Humanities awarded over four thousand dollars for local art projects last Thursday to complete the final round of its 2006 Small Grant and Artist Fellowship Award program. Awarded three times a year, the grants program helps regional working artists fund art projects and continuing arts education.

The most recent Small Grant recipients include Andy Krueger, for his third annual CoolSculpt snow sculpting event in Mountain Village the weekend of January 15, 2007; Meredith Nemerov, for "One Hundred Views of the Aspen Tree, a Drawing Installation" and simultaneous drawing classes for local school students at the Ah Haa School for the Arts in May 2007; and both the Telluride Historical Museum and the Ah Haa School, local nonprofits, to participate in the 2007 ArtWalk.

Artist Fellowship recipients are Liz Lance, for a "Nepal: through the looking glass" photography exhibition in January 2007 at Gallerie Framing; Ben Williams, for a scholarship space at Stronghouse Studios; new resident Hudson Cress, to develop a photography portfolio of his world travels and hold a photography exhibition in 2007; and Cheryl Kimleigh, to take classes in precious-metal clay and keum-boo jewelry making.

"Thanks to the generosity of the Telluride Commission for Community Assistance, Arts and Special Events, the Telluride Foundation, and local grants from the Town of Mountain Village and San Miguel County, TCAH has been able to fund Telluride, Mountain Village and San Miguel County working artists for quite some time," said executive director Renee Marr. "This year we were able to distribute over $20,000 in grants and scholarships to artists and arts organizations who would have had to go without funding or not be able to create projects or further their education. We are truly lucky to have such great government funding support for our local working artists."

TCAH is proud to fund the Stronghouse Studios working artists' cooperative, the Small Grant and Artist Fellowship grant program and the upcoming 2007 ArtWalk. TCAH also funds the Homegrown Performance Series, Art in Public Places, and many other community events and programs vital to area residents. It also assists with the annaul Telluride Artisans Guild Holiday Bazaar. TCAH's next grant cycle begins March, 2007.

TCAH is proud to be supported by CCAASE, Colorado Council on the Arts, Telluride Foundation, and by local grants from the Town of Mountain Village and San Miguel County. Individual and corporate donations are always welcome. For more information about the TCAH or Stronghouse Studios please contact 728-3930 or visit www.telluridearts.org.