The beginning of December marks the third season of Go Local — a little card with a big ambition. Distributed by Asheville Grown Business Alliance, the loyalty program offers discounts and deals at participating local businesses as a way to encourage shoppers to support the local economy. But more than that, $10 of the $15 card cost goes to support Asheville City Schools, with the remaining $5 going to Asheville Grown Business Alliance projects.
Card sales will be used to support teacher grants, which are used for classroom supplies and technology, field trips, artist-in-residence programs and teacher professional development, says Kate Pett, director of the Asheville City Schools Foundation. Now more than ever, Pett says, the card sales are making a critical difference in the schools.
"This card will really close this loop between schools and the local economy," she adds.
For information on where to purchase a Go Local card visit ashevillegrown.com.
To see Go Local in action, look to Hall Fletcher Elementary and the mural that covers the school's entire front exterior. You can't miss it. It's not only the largest project ever undertaken by Asheville City Schools and its Teaching Artists Presenting in Asheville Schools (TAPAS) program — it's currently the largest mural in Asheville.
The mural began as a collaboration between the TAPAS program and Roots + Wing's Community Design Lab, which is affiliated with UNC Asheville. Artists Ian Wilkinson and Alex Irvine worked with Hall Fletcher's then fourth-grade class to design and implement the mural and a mosaic that surrounds the school's entrance.
Wilkinson, a 15-time TAPAS collaborator, came up with a way to make sure the students' ideas were incorporated into the final product: He gave the students a blank line drawing of the school for them to draw on and fill with colors and shapes. The kids made more than 200 drawings that were weeded down, with the students' input, into a final design.
The finished mural draws on elements of nature, including a three-dimensional tree trunk, and includes supersize portraits of some of the student artists themselves. The project expanded to include the mosaic, overseen by Irvine, that frames the school's entrance. The piece incorporates ceramic tiles created by students from the fourth grade class, Asheville Middle School's after-school program and UNCA. Parents, teachers, faculty, Asheville artists and other students also volunteered their time.
Though the project generated a lot of excitement, another thing it did was go over budget. Initially funded by a grant from the N.C. Arts Council, the mural and mosaic grew to a larger scale and complexity than was originally estimated, according to Pett. And that was where Go Local came in.
This year, for the first time, the Go Local card is creating partnerships between area schools and area businesses.
It works like this: If you buy a card at one of 13 participating business, $5 of the $15 you spend will go to the business's partner school. According to Asheville Grown Business Alliance founder Franzi Charen, the idea was born as a way to put a face on the Go Local card, to show kids that local businesses are personally invested in their futures.
One of these partnerships is between Asheville High and the Fine Arts Theatre, owned by Neal Reed, who became involved because he was worried that education wasn't getting the financial support it deserved.
Chris Lenderman, head of the PTO for Asheville High and the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences, mentions that many in the community may not realize how crucial the money from card sales can be to Asheville schools.
The relationship between Fine Arts and Asheville High is already moving beyond filling the school's budget gaps. Reed has donated passes for movie tickets and refreshments to the school's teachers, and for the spring semester, the PTO is planning a series of events featuring documentaries or informational speakers that address education-based themes. The proposed series would screen at the Fine Arts Theatre as a way to raise community awareness about issues that affect education.
"We really want to go above and beyond the card and the money raised from the card sales," says Reed.
Though this month-old partnership is in its early stages, Lenderman believes it will continue to grow and be mutually beneficial for both the school and the Fine Arts Theatre.
• Asheville High with its second partner, Hip Replacements.
The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, Katuah Market, The Hop and The Hop West are also selling Go Local cards, though they are not partnered with specific schools.