Friday, October 14, 2011

One of America's fastest growing Italian wines, KRIS, is teaming with Americans for the Arts as part of its second annual "Art of Education" program. KRIS will award 16 schools in the United States a total of $25,000 to improve academic achievement through quality arts education.

When the program concludes on November 30, the school with the winning number of votes will be awarded $5,000. The next five schools receiving the top number of votes will receive $2,000. Schools that rank sixth through 16th in total number of votes will receive $1,000. Visit KRIS Wine's Facebook page to vote for your favorite K-12 public school to win funding for arts education programs. Participants must be 21 years or older and can vote up to one time per day for multiple schools throughout the duration of the program.

"Over the last several years we've seen a significant decrease for arts funding in our nation's public schools," said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. "This is an alarming trend given the well documented and far-reaching benefits a quality education in the arts provides. Students who engage in arts programs are more literate, exhibit better school attendance and achieve higher grades in all subjects. School leaders and business leaders alike, when surveyed, say that arts in the schools leads to creativity and creativity is what is needed in America's 21st century workers. We are grateful to have a partner such as KRIS Wine that understands the important role art plays in our lives and the welfare of our communities."

KRIS winemaker and seven-time Gambero Rosso "Tre Bicchieri" award winner, Franz Haas, is passionate about the arts. Haas not only considers winemaking an art in itself, but also brings art to the exterior of his wines with labels designed by Italian artist and long-time family friend, Riccardo Schweizer (1925-2004). Schweizer, who studied under Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro, showcases his modern, expressive style in the unique and timeless KRIS labels.

"We are very excited to support the advancement of arts education programs for young people," said Haas. "As our family has created hand-crafted wines for seven generations, we understand and appreciate the importance of artistic production in determining the ultimate character of our wines."