Spark Central will boost Story Lab and arts with $500,000 grant

Spokane's Spark Central is the recipient of a half-million-dollar grant to bolster its literary and other programs.

Allen Family Philanthropies donated $5 million to 10 organizations across the state, including Spark Central, which received $495,862 to grow its literary and interdisciplinary arts programs in Spokane County, according to a news release.

"It's the largest multiyear grant we have right now, and timely, since one of our other multiyear grants is fading off," said Stephanie Watson, Spark Central's development director.

The grant allows more flexibility for paid positions.

"The strongest impact story is that we're able to pay teaching artists that have been formerly volunteers, so it's allowing Spark to really put value on the economy at every layer of arts education," Watson said.

Posey Penfield, the executive director of Spark Central, spoke on the hands-on impact the funding will have on their programs, namely Inland Story Lab.

"(Story Lab) is a program that has multiple impacts for those youth, and not just a parachute art program, something that's there and then gone," Penfield said.

Spark plans to use funding to support the development and outreach of Inland Story Labs.

"We are going to be integrating different writers from our community, visiting and working with the teens in this Inland Story Lab. It's at schools and on -site here at our center, and the outcomes from that are arts -integrated public pieces, whether that's words on walls, mural -making, bus wraps with words and teen poets from our program into teen publication," Penfield said.

Spark hopes to leave a lasting impact on teen communities.

"We're honoring that teen community by not just coding them as teenagers. We're really looking at paid opportunities for the people closest to this work," Watson said.

"It's just the beginning," she said.

Troy Slack's reporting is part of the Teen Journalism Institute, funded by Bank of America with support from the Innovia Foundation.

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