Puffin Foundation West

Columbus' own formidable artist of much repute ROGER WILLIAMS wished to apply his amazing talent to speak to us about the Environment and PFW gave him a Grant (See Grants awarded in 2013) to create an original painting that would then be transposed to a 7'x8' TRAVELING MURAL that will be able show up on walls all over town. *  This mural will get its first airing in time for EARTH DAY on the North Wall of MADLAB'S Theatre on N. Third Street @ Chestnut and will be seen by the tens of thousands of drivers coming off the 670 Ramp into town.  The Mural entitled OZONE MAN was painted in Roger's deconstructionist high-energy style. The artworks depicts san electrical fixture with an (ugly) energy-saving fluorescent bulb that is now unplugged and the lamp has been transformed into a wind turbine and from the blades everything green and wonderful is coming forth; butterflies, dragonflies, ladybugs, hearts and flowers and, yes TWO PUFFINS!  Thank you ROGER and THANK YOU MADLAB!!!!!!

* If you or your community group has a wall and wants to display this mural e-mail us at puffinoh@columbus.rr.com

SIXTEEN MILLION CHILDREN, let us repeat that, SIXTEEN MILLION CHILDREN go to sleep hungry at night IN AMERICA every night. PFW has worked with many organizations and has added grant dollars to their awards to ensure that food security could be part of their program(s). PFW has provided grant awards to help establish a Garden Project at a Public School; given seed money to create a Community Garden; helped to provide healthful snacks at a neighborhood Settlement House or at other After-School or Summer programs in Central Ohio. We have given grants to organizations which have asked their patrons not only to buy tickets to their events but to also bring canned goods as part of the admission price. Please see our website regarding the number of grants we have given in 2013 that incorporate the idea that HEALTH IS WEALTH.

PFW has given a specific grant to the Pearl Market which is operated by the downtown development SID Public Services Association. This is to help fill the gap and get more farm-direct produce to all visitors to the Market. The SID will also use specific marketing tools to reach the 39% of downtown residents east of the market and 37% of residents west of the market who are living below 100% of the federal poverty level. This is important as the Market will be offering SNAP/EBT (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance- Electronic Benefits Transfer) wireless services to qualified consumers. WHAT? SNAP offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities. SNAP is the largest food safety net program in America. The Downtown SID will offer an incentive program to SNAP/EBT card users to help pay for a doubling of redemptions, meaning that $1.00 will be worth $2.00. This is a benefit to the shopper who by coming to the Pearl Market will have greater access to fresh vegetables, fruits, and it will give the farmers extra income. And that means we are improving the environment, keeping local farmers growing and coming to market, and adding to a stronger local economy as more consumers are connecting with local growers and the dollars are not going out of the community to box stores and chains. Pearl Market offers unmatched transportation accessibility whether by car, bike, bus, or on foot. All the major bus lines serving low-income neighborhoods in Columbus converge at a point not even a block from Pearl Market.   We hope all other potential grant partners come on board so we soon see a day when no Columbus child goes to sleep hungry.

FIVE (real) SISTERS PRODUCTIONS asked Puffin West for a grant for their soon to be completed Documentary which was filmed in Columbus, OH entitled KINGS, QUEENS AND IN-BETWEENS.  This documentary challenges common assumptions about drag and gender and the "rules". The film revolves around two local drag performance groups, The West Family drag queen performers (led by Nina West and Virginia West) and The Royal Renegades drag king troupe (helmed by Cool Ethan and The Reverend Roy Rogers).  This documentary will bring to the screen snippets of their personal, creative, and/or political expression as drag queens, kings and transgender performers.  Nina West, for instance, has raised untold funds for charities and is a regular guest on local TV news. A number of other members of the groups have used their local celebrity to address such questions and issues as: What is Drag? Why is there an anti-marriage law? How do we overcome anti-GLBTQ discrimination policies? Why are we still living in an atmosphere in the mid-west of Don't Ask Don't Tell? These issues are also incorporated in their performance pieces. This film, being edited as this is written, will give everyone the opportunity to explore how Drag can make us question categorizations of male/female, gay/straight, and butch/femme. There will be concurrent social outreach/audience engagement surrounding the film and already it is slated to be shown to numerous charitable partners and social action groups nationwide.  You will also be able to follow it on its own FACEBOOK PAGE, see scenes from the film on youtube and other online media outlets.  more info at

(http://www.facebook.com/KingsQueensInBetweens)

"Kings, Queens, & In-Betweens" -- A Documentary on Drag (trailer):  http://youtu.be/sV-0gvC3N7I

Columbus Dance Theatre's Company (CBT) will rock and roll to the sounds of Columbus' own and internationally recognized  string quartet, CARPE DIEM, with guest musician Andrew Lipke.  This one of a kind world premier will push classical instruments to their limits as they take on classic rock.  CBT will be dancing to classic rock hits including, White Room, Sunshine of Your Love, Great Gig in the Sky, Freebird and many others.  The rock tunes are being arranged by Carpe Diem and Lipke, a pianist and guitarist will add his vocals and some original compositions to the playbill.  Artistic Director and Choreographer, Tim Veach, will be pushing his dancers into new  territory by combining movements taken from ballet, jazz, and street dancing. "It is a no holds barred event with our dancers pushing their physical edge," said Tim Veach.  The PFW grant will offer Settlement House Kids the opportunity to see the exciting dimension of live music and  a dance performance and they will be invited on stage at the end of the performance to show the dancers and the audience "what they got going on” as well. 

PFW provided a grant in 2012 to Central Community House (CCH) which is the comprehensive neighborhood-based community center that has been serving the near east side of Columbus since 1937! Teens who are in the Transit Arts program at CCH have been collaborating with OSU's Department of Industrial, Interior and Visual Communication   to turn CCH's former facility on Bryden Road into a satellite campus.  On Thurs., April 8th the public is invited to see the work that has been done to date in their DESIGN MATTERS Showcase where you will see how CCH's teens working jointly with OSU college students have come together to visualize, design and build furnishings and features for the future Walter and Marian English Center for Art and Community (the renovated facility on Bryden Road). For more info: Central Community House <lhweaver@cchouse.org>; 

PFW has made a Grant award to the YWCA Columbus which has worked for over 125 years towards eliminating racism and empowering woman through nurturing, housing, feeding and mentoring them and their families through all stages of their lives. Our grant supports their undertaking entitled Faces of Courage and will enable the “Y” use the portraits of twelve women clients, which were taken by local and acclaimed   photographer Scott Cunningham. Each photograph offers a glimpse at the character and fortitude of these women. The photographs will be on permanent display in the Y's main headquarters,  the Griswold Building.  These portraits have  also been packaged as note cards with the impactful stories of these women’s lives on the back of the card and describes how YWCA's Women's Residency Program is helping them overcome adversity, abuse and other disadvantages so that they can rebuild their lives and futures . The “Y’s” commitment to the rights of women and their children has created positive social change, provided economic empowerment, and has raised a voice for justice for many in our community who previously were not heard. These portraitures are powerful messengers, and those that are able to see these images will stop and reflect on the work that is being done by the YMCA to help end racism and suffering.  (Image by Scott Cunningham) 

Peace Is Loud in honor of International Women's Day invites you to bring the award-winning documentary series Women, War & Peace to your community!  Puffin West was one of the sponsors in 2011 that helped The Women's Fund of Central Ohio bring Abigail Disney to Columbus to discuss this award-winning documentary.  The series that Peace Is A Loud is offering examines war through women's eyes and includes the film Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which features Leymah Gbowee and the women who came together to bring peace and reconciliation to Liberia.  Nobel Peace prizewinner Leymah Gbowee was at Otterbein University , in Westerville, OH, late last fall promoting Libraries for Liberia and speaking about her continuing work in Liberia uplifting women and girls.  Women, War & Peace premiered on PBS in 2011, where it reached 13 million viewers.  Peace Is Loud is now bringing the films to a global audience by sharing Women, War & Peace screening kits for FREE with organizations around the world. To request screening kits and download a resource and discussion guide, visit peaceisloud.org!

NIGHTHAWKS, which will be presented to the public in September 2013 by PUSH LEG a Portland-based theatre company is an original work inspired by the classical paintings of EDWARD HOPPER, particularly his painting the small town diner.  As the viewer is drawn onto the set, they will encounter the town's locals.  The cast of eccentric characters including the proprietress, her busboy nephew, a young waitress, the town's reporter and some "regulars."  The interweaving relationships reveal layers of personal history while simultaneously painting a larger picture of this town, ANYTOWN USA.  Camille Cettina and Anne Sorce have over twenty years of professional experience as performers, creators of new works and as producers. Developing the “landscapes” of Edward Hopper’s paintings and transporting/transposing them into contemporary Americana is so very ripe. It appears certain that Push Leg will provide Portland with a very important original cultural production.

          (image by Stephen A. Miller)  More info @ www.pushleg.com

PFW is continuing its granting to the North Shore Musical Festival in Northbrook, IL this June 5th, 7th, & 8th under the leadership of VADMIM GLUZMAN, Artistic Director, and ANGELA YOFFE, Executive Director. We are especially impressed with your commitment to continue and expand your educational outreach to the over 100 students who will be included in the educational portion of the series entitled The Next Generation on stage" which is made possible through the generosity from many of the artists, whom you have been able to attract to the festival and who will also share their talents these student   musicians.  The opportunity to listen, learn and play with some of the world’s most renowned artists in master classes is an experience of a lifetime.  Your understanding that the language of music can instill in a student the curiosity to explore their own creativity, nurture their ambitions and influence them to continue honing their skills so that, perhaps, they can realizing their dreams, is applauded.   Your unique programming reaches out to all ethnic groups, and your stimulating program helps to enrich communities and strengthen community spirits - as music explores the diversity of human emotions through its multi-faceted palate.

OF THE RISING TIDE has been a long-term project of documentary photographer Melinda Rose who has received a PFW grant to continue her chronicling of the lives of the people who inhabit a remote Louisiana Island, Isle de Jean  Charles, which has literally been disappearing.  Melinda Rose's pieces have focused on a gentle yet determined community as they cope with the fact that their lives and livelihoods have been swept away by the ravages of wind and water.  Ms. Rose heads back to Bayou Country this spring wondering which families have relocated and about those families that  have managed to  stayed how have they managed to hold their tight-knit community together?  It is a story of a series of disasters, but more importantly it is a story of survival. For an incredible history lesson of this Isle go to isledejeancharles.com.  

For over forty years Kevin Locke a visionary Hoop Dancer, preeminent player of the indigenous Northern Plains flute, traditional story teller, recording artist, educator and cultural ambassador for the Lakota has  gathered as many traditional songs, musical skills and dances as he can to preserve the Lakota culture and present it to the world.  He is collaborating with Rich Dube an honored music educator from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada on an accessible educational curriculum for the classroom to re-introduce tribal youth and Native American music enthusiasts to the traditional tuning and songs of the Lakota "Sioux" peoples of the Northern Plains.  This project seeks to revive a nearly forgotten musical tradition and song culture.  This project will introduce to many an ancient but now unfamiliar scale, being the flute's traditional tuning, which is unlike the Western pentatonic scale and it will also explore the  distinctive song structure  which is  "authentic" Lakota style.  Rich Dube has found a way to recreate the traditional Lakota flute so that an affordable replica can be produced and the Grant made by PFW will enable the music teachers from North and South Dakota attending the 2013 Lakota Summer Institute in Fort Yates, ND on Standing Rock Reservation to be introduced to this flute music and the curriculum to take back to their students. This is a Project of the Lakota Language Consortium (www.lakota.org)

Puffin Foundation West has given a Grant to support the CELEBRATION of the Massachusetts Clubhouse Coalition (MCC), a non-profit organization that serves 8300 members who have serious and persistent mental illness, such as depressive disorders, bi-polar disorders and schizophrenia. Clubhouses started decades ago as a “movement” in NYC in the 1950’s by a group of former patients trying to de-institutionalize themselves from that stigma. Fundamentally, it can be described as human rights movement that now has 300 centers in 23 countries worldwide. We are happy to contribute to their EMPLOYMENT RECOVERY CELEBRATION this April in Boston. People who struggle with these illnesses have found that through the Clubhouse Programs that they have opportunities that enable them to learn real skills that can allow them to reintegrate back into the work place and give them hope that they can reconnect with family and friends and even return to school. Members do not live in their local Clubhouses but use the centers as a base of support in their efforts to live successfully in the community.  They learn to build sustaining relationship and how to become civically engaged. Clubhouse Centers also support the artistic expression of their members via Clubhouse organized art shows; by helping members learn how to sell their work; by publishing members poetry and hosting coffee houses with open mics. MCC offers a variety of resources to help people with mental illness to find meaningful paid work and the Celebration highlights the successes of Clubhouse members who have found employment and also recognizes and celebrates the employers who have provided meaning jobs.  www.massclub.org

During 2013 you will see our Puffin West Logo adding support to the sponsorship of a number of Columbus Metropolitan Club (CMC) Forums.   CMC encourages civic awareness of contemporary matters by providing a face-to-face platform that is built on civil discussions and debate about common local, national or global concerns.     13 forward, civic-minded WOMEN founded CMC in 1976  because they could not gain access to private lunch clubs and speakers' programs in Columbus, OH because they were not men.  For the last 37 years notable speakers/leaders from around the city, the nation and the world representing a wide-range of diversity - (be it race, age, gender, orientation, religious and/or political beliefs) have taken the stage to discuss relevant and newsworthy issues at the weekly luncheons.  8-9000 people attend these Forums annually. Each program has time built-in to always include unedited questions from the audience to the presenters, ensuring that the audience plays an essential role in each forum.  columbusmetroclub.org