Art as a Catalyst

FOLUSA is partnering with the Gary Rosenthal Collection’s Art as a Catalyst ™ program to award five $1,000 grants to FOLUSA members over the next 15 months. One grant will be awarded every three months to a current FOLUSA Group, Library, or Associate Member as part of the Bookmarks for Literacy campaign through the Art as a Catalyst™ grants program. For nearly 30 years, Gary Rosenthal, President of The Gary Rosenthal Collection, has created a unique line of Judaica (Jewish functional artwork) and built a reputation throughout Jewish community and the world. His artwork has been presented to heads of state, celebrities and top business leaders, and is featured in museums and galleries worldwide.

Through the Art as a Catalyst™ program, Rosenthal holds intergenerational activities in which children and parents construct brilliantly colored, cut-glass mosaics and send them to Rosenthal’s workshop in Kensington, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. The mosaics are fused at 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit and mounted onto bookmarks from The Gary Rosenthal Collection.

The grants program is funded by a $1 contribution for every bookmark sold. Combining brilliantly colored fused glass with brass, the bookmarks are available in 80 different styles. Each can be personalized with famous quotes. One of the more popular varieties includes the Oscar Wilde quote: “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”

To date, Art as a Catalyst™, The Gary Rosenthal Collection, and The Gary Rosenthal Collection Foundation have awarded over $100,000 in grants for arts enrichment programs. Some of the nonprofit organizations Rosenthal has partnered with include Autism Society of America, Children’s Inn at NIH, Community Bridges, Friends of Libraries U.S.A., Latin American Youth Center, and the Montgomery County Housing Opportunity Commission.

Bookmarks are available for purchase at discounted and wholesale rates for sale in your Friends store. The bookmarks are excellent for teacher gifts, awards, donor appreciation, and much more. More than 80 designs are available with the opportunity to personalize for your Friends Group or Library. For each bookmark sold $1 is contributed to The Gary Rosenthal Foundation to fund programs such as the five $1,000 Bookmarks for Literacy grants to be awarded to FOLUSA members.

To learn more about applying for a $1,000 Bookmarks for Literacy Grant please visit the Friends Zone.