KOBI Spirit of Community Moment: Fields Artist Fellowship

KOBI: Back, only on five, Oregon Community Foundation created the Fields Artist Fellowship to support local artists. They built infrastructure, inspire creativity, and address important issues within their communities. So far eight artists across Oregon have received Field Fellowship grants, and here's another Spirit of Community Moment.

Jerry Tischleder: The Fields Artists Fellowship really is a big chunk of support to help artists and folks that share cultural traditions, to support their career, move their work forward, however they choose.

Gabriel Barrera: It's okay to keep it fairly loose, just a little taut.

KOBI: Artist Gabriel Barrera is a recipient of a Fields Artist Fellowship Grant. He used the fellowship funding to launch this art studio in Talent, Oregon.

GB: I'm an artist in community, which means lending myself as a mentor to young people.

KOBI: The Fields Fellowship allows Gabriel to mentor young artists. They have a safe place to create their art with all the supplies and other tools of the trade they need.

GB: It was always my intention to always provide a mentorship program out of my studio.

Lilith Andromeda: It's really helped me provide structure around my art and just having a space to come and designate time, and have the resources that I need to have access to like paint and different tools that I don't have at home. So, having this space and having the resources and the tools has been really incredible to help me grow.

Isabella Lee Tibbetts: Gabriel has provided already so many, so much supplies that we, that I would not have been able to afford.

KOBI: Young artists not only come to Gabriel's studio for the tools and supplies they come to be inspired.

Nick Simmons: My confidence and my art and just who I am as a person has grown a lot since I've been here. Gabriel he's done so much. He's provided an environment that's great for growing and developing artists.

LA: I think it's just helped me also empower myself as an artist.

ILT: It's a great program and I'm very thankful and very honored to be part of it.

KOBI: If you’d like to help make Southern Oregon a better place to live, visit Oregon Community Foundation at oregoncf.org.

This from KOBI TV's "Oregon Community Foundation: Spirit of Community" series.