Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Sidney has been awarded a $16,000 grant from the Robbins-De Beaumont Foundation, based in Boston, in support of its Music and Performing Arts Makes ME Smart! initiative. The initiative is intended to provide music and performing arts education as well as a broader range of cultural opportunities for children in rural Maine communities, according to a news release from the center.

This technological solution, known as Distance Learning, is key to providing these opportunities in rural areas, where challenges and a lack of critical financial resources are preventing many students from gaining a full education that includes the arts. This technology will provide rural students with an arts rich curriculum delivered by acclaimed teachers at the center and access to an existing network of other schools, institutions of higher education, and specialty organizations already providing learning opportunities to support the development of skills, competencies, and knowledge necessary for its young citizens to be successful in the 21st century.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Robbins-De Beaumont Foundation for this opportunity. The use of this technology is vital to our efforts to assure that all Maine children have access to the same learning opportunities and with the same quality that are available in more suburban or urban regions in the US. The impact to students will be enormous and will benefit rural communities across Maine,” said John Wiggin, executive director, according to the release.

For more information on Snow Pond Center for the Arts, visit snowpond.org, or contact Christa Johnson, director of development, at 844-476-6976 ext. 203, or christa.johnson@snowpond.org.