Community Leadership Award for IMA

Charlie Bodenstab and Peg Gerlock show off award – Contributed photo

San Juan Island School District Superintendent Rick Thompson was proud to accompany San Juan Islands Museum of Art’s Peg Gerlock and Charlie Bodenstab to an Honors Banquet to receive a Community Leadership Award for the IMA’s support of art in public schools. This event was sponsored by Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) and was held at Skagit County Golf and Country Club in the Skagit Valley.

Four years ago, the IMA and the school district established an elementary school Art Enrichment Program, bringing local artists into the classroom to lead hand-on art lessons. For the last several years, IMA has also provided funding for middle school art teacher to bridge the funding gap between elementary and high school art instruction.

For this unique elementary Artist Enrichment Program, IMA secured funding from several sources including the Washington State Arts Commission, PTAs, local donors and a number of foundations including the San Juan Island Community Foundation and The Women’s Fund. Supplies and materials for this program are funded by the San Juan Island Public Schools Foundation. This state and local support is significant for IMA as they continue work toward prioritizing world class exhibits at a new museum and art programs for public schools on San Juan Island. The IMA Board feels strongly that education of young people in the arts is critical and IMA is proud to help maintain art in the elementary and middle school. In addition, has been holding Family Art Days in the summer to encourage family creativity and art exploration in a variety of mediums.

IMA, along with the support of SJISD Board of Directors and an excellent cadre of staff at the elementary school, has worked hard for these programs. The success of these funding efforts is evident through awards in the last few years won by Friday Harbor High School artists.

In addition to supporting art education in the community, IMA is opening a new museum located on Spring Street. To support IMA and their excellent programs, or to get on a mailing list to keep up with news and future exhibits, phone (360) 370-5050 or visit IMA’s website at www.sjima.org.

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