Wena
The "Wena" Grant Program is addressed to High Schools of Fine Arts with the status of public schools, and its main goal is to support artistic education of young people who wish to pursue a career in art. The Foundation, by awarding, through a competition, grants with a maximum value of 16,000 Polish Zlotys for the implementation of original educational and artistic projects, opens up new development prospects for schoolchildren. Moreover:
- inspires pupils to independent creative activity;
- develops critical and creative reception of art;
- develops competence in terms of co-creation and teamwork;
- supports teaching staff who conduct education in the field of fine arts by popularising creative teaching methods,
- enables education beyond the core curriculum.
The projects submitted to the Competition are evaluated by the Competition Jury according to criteria of educational and artistic value. Additionally, the social impact of submitted projects is given additional weight. Evaluation criteria can be found in the Rules of the Competition.
“Our grant is supposed to make the students and their teachers focus on what interests them most, make them passionate and animated, and make them feel freer in their creativity.
Anna Woźniak-Starak, Chairwoman of the Competition Jury
"The art of fixing the world" is the title of the 4th edition of the "Wena" Grant Program Competition of the Starak Family Foundation.
We hereby announce the 4th edition of the nationwide competition of the "Wena" Grant Program for an educational-art project to be carried out in the school year 2022/2023. We invite to participate in the Competition:
- public and non-public high schools with the status of public school, four-year schools of visual arts;
- public and non-public high schools with the status of public school, five-year high schools of visual arts.
As we observe the world, we see it destruct for the past two years as a result of the pandemic. On February 24, 2022, it broke down completely. Something stops working on a large scale, such as when a virus rages everywhere and a school has to be shut down completely, or when a war breaks out. Other times we notice small glitches - a hole in the sidewalk, a broken window, a broken branch. Or something breaks between us. Someone gets offended, treats others down, doesn't extend a helping hand. How do we fix all this? We can learn a lot from the history of art, which is full of examples of care for the planet, the near and distant lands, people, animals, and plants.
At the Foundation, through organised competitions, we develop artistic education of young people, shaping their creative and social attitudes. We promote phenomena in art, based on values, on the confrontation of good and evil. This way, we try to fix the world, and young people in art schools gain tools to express themselves through art, to roam free in their creativity, to approve or strongly object.
This year's edition of the Competition refers to the work of Jerzy Ludwiński, critic and writer, a fan of conceptual art. In the 1970s, the artist compared art to ...glue. Art binds together various, seemingly incompatible elements, fills in the gaps, turns our lives into experiences that are full of surprises. Even if we don't succeed at "fixing" something, we may want to use our drawings, installations, actions, sculptures, and photographs to encourage others to fix one small thing in their immediate environment.
We invite young people, working in teams of at least five with a leading teacher, to observe carefully, experiment with various materials, forms, and means of artistic expression, and formulate a social message in response to the above reflection.
Entries to the Competition will be accepted via an Online Form. Submissions will be accepted until May 13.
Partners of the "Wena" Competition:
• Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Warszawie
• Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej w Warszawie
All submitted educational-art projects will be formally and substantively evaluated by the Competition Jury. A detailed description of the substantive criteria can be found on the Starak Family Foundation website at Program Rules. The final decision to award the grant will be made by the Starak Family Foundation Board based on the recommendation of the Competition Jury, based on substantive criteria listed below:
- The educational value of the proposed project
- The artistic value of the proposed project
- A transparent plan of project activities and budget adequacy
- Social impact of the project - extra points
