Marianna Hofer Endowment Grants Support Artists and Arts Organizations Across Hancock County

Findlay, OH–The Marianna Hofer Endowment Grant has awarded funding to a diverse group of artists and arts organizations whose projects will enrich the cultural landscape of Hancock County through visual arts, education, and performance.

This year’s recipients represent a range of artistic disciplines, including painting, ceramics, arts education, and jazz performance, all focused on artistic development and community engagement.

Artist Recipients

Caitlin Parke will use grant funding to enroll in jazz piano and jazz studies courses at Bowling Green State University during the Fall 2026 semester. With a background in classical piano performance, she aims to strengthen her skills in jazz improvisation, rhythmic phrasing, and ensemble performance. She also plans to expand access to live jazz in Hancock County through performances in community spaces, including senior living facilities and local venues.

Cindy Meadows will apply grant support to advance her drawing and watercolor practice as she continues her work as both an artist and educator in Findlay. Following prior watercolor study supported by grant funding, she will focus on strengthening foundational drawing skills while continuing to develop her watercolor technique. She is a new member of the Ohio Watercolor Society and anticipates new professional opportunities through advanced study.

Jennifer Sowders will dedicate grant support to participate in her first artist residency, further developing her award-winning acrylic landscape practice. After receiving international recognition in recent years, she will focus on immersive studio work and plein air inspiration, using the residency to deepen her artistic process and create new work.

Arts Organization Recipients

Awakening Minds Art, in partnership with Journey to Belonging, will present From Conflict to Canvas: Borders & Brushstrokes, a community arts program exploring refugee experiences, identity, and belonging through visual art. Held at Awakening Minds Art, the program will engage adult and high school participants in storytelling, mixed-media artmaking, and collaborative mural creation. The project will culminate in public exhibitions at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts and the Findlay Art Walk.

Findlay Art League will host ceramic artist Kayla Kirk for hands-on pottery workshops in Hancock County. Kirk, owner of Charmed Ceramics and a member of Toledo’s Huron Street Studios collective, brings professional studio and teaching experience, including work at Pewabic Pottery. The workshops will provide local artists with advanced ceramics instruction and expanded creative learning opportunities.

About the Marianna Hofer Endowment Grant

The Marianna Hofer Endowment Grant supports Hancock County artists, arts organizations, and arts educators in pursuing creative and educational projects that strengthen the region’s arts community.

About Marianna L. Hofer

Marianna L. Hofer was a beloved educator, poet, photographer, and advocate for the arts in Findlay. She taught writing at the University of Findlay for 32 years and was deeply engaged in the local arts community as a poet, photographer, and participant in Art Walk events and studio spaces. Her poetry was published nationally, including in her collection A Memento Sent by the World. Following her passing in 2017, her legacy continues through an endowment supporting local artists and arts programming in the community she served.