During its recent Board meeting, the Dublin Community Foundation awarded two grants from its Dublin Has Heart Fund, to organizations helping the community cope with the on-going pandemic. The Board awarded $3,000 to the Dublin Arts Council for their Arts & Wellness Initiative, and $3,500 to TEDxInnovationDr to support the third year of their flagship event.  

Connect: Public Art & Wellness Challenge 

Recognizing the value of the arts as a vehicle for personal and community well-being, the Dublin Arts Council began an Art & Wellness initiative to explore – and nurture – this connection. The initiative is based on research that shows that the arts provide opportunities to connect with oneself and others in ways that positively impact mental, emotional, and social well-being. 

Their newest addition to the initiative is “Connect: Public Art & Wellness Challenge,” partially funded by a grant from the Dublin Community Foundation. “Connect” launched on September 26, 2020, as an effort to get Dublin residents and visitors to get more in touch with art, nature, and each other – socially distanced, of course! 

Through “Connect,” the Arts Council is refreshing and building upon its Riverboxes installations by having the original articles creating new artwork that responds to their original Riverbox creation. In addition, a challenge booklet allows for an interactive experience, offering geographic clues to the location of the Riverboxes and prompts for creative engagement. The booklets are available to the community through “ARTboxes,” inspired by the Little Library concept installed throughout Dublin. 

Connect and Create

The goal of TEDxInnovationDr was to create a platform that would allow for innovative ideas to be shared that could inspire and influence the community. In its third year – and perhaps when it is needed most – TEDxInnovationDr seeks to spark innovation and positivity within and throughout the Dublin community, the Dublin Community Foundation is proud to have supported this endeavor. 

This year’s TEDxInnovationDr was originally intended to be held at the Abbey Theater on October 27, but just like many other plans in 2020, they were forced to change and adapt to current health guidelines. As a result, the event was held as a “drive-in event” at Coffman Park. 

This year’s theme was, “Connect and Create,” and focused on the arts, diversity, education, health, and technology. In all, nine speakers “brought the soul of Dublin to life.” And each brought with them the goal to demonstrate that through individual and communal efforts, there is a possibility for change for the common benefit. 

At the Dublin Community Foundation, our mission is to support local non-profit organizations by raising, investing, and dispersing funds for the enrichment of the entire Dublin community. We take immense pride in seeing the organizations that we support go on to meet the growing needs of our community. 

These are challenging and uncertain times, but Dublin nonprofit organizations, nearly all of whom the Foundation has supported at one time or another, are rising to the occasion. Please consider a donation to help us to continue the good works happening throughout our community.