Check out the stories and successes of ZAP-funded organizations. Plus, ZAP Kids Summer Passport news! View this email in your browser The Tier I & Zoological 2018 applications are now in. We received 25 applications for the Tier I category and three applications for the Zoological category. Tier I board members will review applications throughout the summer and early fall. In the meantime, we suggest you invite the Tier I Advisory Board to your events. You can invite board members as many times as desired throughout the year.

Thank you for signing your 2017 contracts. The 2017 applications have been fully executed. If you would like to print a copy of the executed contract for your records, you may do so through ZoomGrants.  You should have received a projected distribution from ZAP regarding your 2017 payments. If you did not receive this document, please notify Megan Attermann.  We are working on processing the Tier I & Zoological first payments for 2017. We are hopeful that these will be completed by the end of May. We appreciate your patience.  Tier II Advisory Board members are busy reviewing the 175 applications received this year. You will be notified in early fall of the board's recommendations.  You may receive requests for clarification on your application through ZoomGrants.com. Your timely response to these requests is essential for the review process. Please be sure you receive these requests by whitelisting (or adding as a safe sender) [email protected] to your email client.   You may be receiving notices from the County asking you to sign up for a card payment system. We do not recommend you sign up for this card and, instead, sign up for EFT whenever possible.  ZAP Kids Summer Passport Kick Off Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts & Parks When: June 2 | 6 - 9 PM Where: Viridian Event Center 8030 S. 1825 W., West Jordan, UT Over 30 ZAP-funded organizations and partners have agreed to participate in ZAP's very first Kids Summer Passport Program. Child explorers (and their families) will explore these destinations throughout the summer. If you have a child who wants to participate, come to the Kick Off! We'll have a booth at Salt Lake County Library Service's Summer Reading Challenge Kick Off. Come find us and pick up a passport.  Learn more about the ZAP Kids Summer Passport Program.  Zoo, Arts and Parks has a growing blog! Be a part of building a large archive of stories about your work and the personal impact of arts, culture and recreation! Share your story. We are currently looking for blog posts to go live on the following dates: June 28 July 12 July 19 July 26 And beyond! If you're interested in contributing, please contact Megan Attermann to discuss the details and schedule a date. Chicks and Chirps: Edward's Pheasants at Tracy Aviary By Julie Roehner | Tracy Aviary The weather is warming up, bulbs are blooming, and for Tracy Aviary, it means its hatching season. In March, Tracy Aviary welcomed the hatching of five Edwards’s Pheasant chicks! Edwards’s Pheasants are found in only three provinces in central Vietnam and are thought to be extinct in the wild, which makes this hatching all the more exciting!  Tracy Aviary participates in a Species Survival Plan to breed this beautiful bird, increase their numbers in captivity, and ensure they have a future.  The chicks are currently being raised by their mom and dad in the lush Treasures of the Rainforest exhibit and getting accustomed to finding food on their own, flying, and exploring their habitat. Edwards’s Pheasants are very secretive and prefer to spend their time hiding under dense foliage while foraging on the ground for food. The keepers are providing mealworms, crickets, and specially formulated pheasant pellets for the family to eat. Sometimes it is difficult to see the chicks, as mom can be very protective, but if you listen closely you can hear the family chirping to each other as they explore their habitat. Read More Justice-Seeking Super Robot Takes on Arts Education By Megan Attermann | Zoo, Arts & Parks Let’s get something out of the way at the beginning. For me, art is about connection. Now, a story. I remember it distinctly. I was dressed like a robot. It was Halloween, and I was at recess when I heard it. Name calling! As a machine, I was brave enough to stand up and say that wasn’t okay with me. Even as a preschooler, I was obsessed with inclusion. I found power in fighting the good fight. I wasn’t just a regular robot that day. I was a justice-seeking super robot. Fast forward. I found the arts. I took piano lessons, went to Shakespeare camp, and sang poorly in high school musicals. Arts education was a big part of my childhood. It was so ingrained in my experience that I felt every child must have had these same opportunities. But that isn’t the case. Read More Ciao: A Note from Vicki Bourns By Vicki Bourns | Utah Division of Arts & Museums Today, Friday, April 21, 2017, is bittersweet.  My last day working for the ZAP Program.  Salt Lake County has been very good to me, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with so many talented, dedicated and passionate arts professionals and volunteers. I am grateful for this journey. I am grateful for every ZAP advisory board member – you have taught me so much. I am grateful to the ZAP grantees that use their best efforts to provide thought-provoking, engaging and entertaining activities in architecture, dance, arts education, theatre, folk arts, natural history, literature, visual arts, media arts, botanical gardens, music, history, humanities, interdisciplinary & multidisciplinary arts, and zoology.  Read More A Broader Spectrum of Perspective: Recognizing Gabriella Huggins By Rachel Cook | Salt Lake Emerging Arts Professionals Gabriella Huggins is the after school digital media arts mentor for Spy Hop Productions.  Her main program is Sending Messages—“a storytelling podcast created and entirely produced by incarcerated youth.  Gabriella’s nominator said of the program, “Under Gabriella’s lead Sending Messages has expanded to a vehicle that hopes to inform current policy reform, improve access to high quality step-down resources, and progress toward a restorative justice framework.”  In addition to the sending messages program, Gabriella also works with marginalized youth through the multimedia programs SpyHop offers.  Gabriella has directed and co-direced two award winning documentaries, was a featured speaker at TEDx Park City, and has been heavily involved in Salt Lake County nonprofits.  Gabriella is, in the words of her nominator, “A skilled facilitator and forward thinking advocate, [who] strives to provide her students with the tools to think critically and the esteem to express themselves artistically.”  Read More Four Months and Counting: UMFA Readies for Reopening By Mindy Wilson | Utah Museum of Fine Arts The usually picture-perfect galleries of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) look more like artists’ studios these days, with preparations in full swing for the Museum’s late August reopening. On a recent morning, metal carts and gurneys sat piled with tools and gallon paint cans as the Museum’s preparator readied empty cases for new objects in the Pacific art exhibition. Nearby in the modern and contemporary gallery, collections staffers carefully mounted three Seer Bonnets by Angela Ellsworth, an artist with Salt Lake City ties. Downstairs in collections storage, a guest conservator assessed, cleaned and treated paintings, including Utah artist Alfred Lambourne's A Nook of the Desert(1875–1876), a new acquisition for the American and regional galleries. Read More Explore Physics in the Air with Discovery Gateway’s SkyCycle! By Kristin Jahne | Discovery Gateway Children's Museum Have you ever wanted to soar in the sky with the greatest of ease? No, it’s not a flying trapeze, it’s the newest exhibit from Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum- the SkyCycle!  Opening April 22, kids and adults alike can explore principles of counterbalance and center of gravity while taking a thrilling ride on a 30-foot track. The SkyCycle exhibit has come out all the way from Orlando, Florida and was built by a company who produces rides for Disney World! Read More A successful blog post includes: Four to five images About 700 words A short, snappy title A short, two to three sentence bio of the author An engaging story Blog posts are not press releases. Think about starting your post with a relevant and/or personal story. Storytelling is a great way to grab a reader's attention. People love watching (or reading about) other people. Make it personal.  We all love #ZAPTicketTuesday! Thank you to the following ZAP-funded organizations for donating tickets for our giveaways this past month: The Grand Theatre | Hairspray Utah Museum of Contemporary Art | Private Curatorial Tour The Empress Theatre | Footloose Tracy Aviary | General Admission & Avian Experience Pinnacle Acting Company | The Importance of Being Earnest Several organizations have donated tickets through April 2. Thank you! We look forward to highlighting your organizations in the coming weeks! If you're interested in donating, we are currently seeking donations for the following giveaway dates: May 23 May 30 June 6 June 14 And beyond! Please keep in mind that giveaways usually take place 3 to 4 weeks before your event. This gives us time to create the entry form and mail the tickets to the winner(s). Prior to sending any tickets, please contact Megan Attermann to discuss scheduling a giveaway date and other logistics. We greatly appreciate early inquiries. If there are any events in 2017 that you would like to donate tickets for, feel free to schedule those giveaways with Megan now. (Note: our giveaways are hosted on Tuesdays, but your event may occur any day.) Copyright © 2017 Zoo, Arts & Parks, All rights reserved.  You are receiving this email because you are associated with an organization that is interested in ZAP grants. This is how ZAP will contact you regarding your ZAP grant. You may have opted in on our website. Our mailing address is:  Zoo, Arts & Parks 2001 South State Street, Suite N3-200 P.O. Box 144575 Salt Lake City, UT  84114-4575 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list