Community Photography
The Sherman Cultural District is the home of an exciting public art project led by Austin College. The Focalpoint(!) Project, Phase I, concluded in December 2020. Using photography workshops to build social engagement around the arts, the Focalpoint(!) Project invited Sherman residents to contribute to a databank of curated images of places, people, and culture. Many of the images can be viewed on the Focalpoint website, and future plans include publication of an e-book and additional displays of photos as part of the Public Art plan created during the project.
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The Focalpoint Project is not currently accepting submissions.
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The project was created for sharing of images of the places, people, and neighborhood culture of Sherman, Texas. Images submitted in phase I of The Focalpoint(!) Project comprise a permanent collection in an image bank at Austin College. Shared images represent either (1) unique or (2) universal aspects of Sherman and its residents/visitors.
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NEA'S OUR TOWN PROGRAM
The project was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), as one of 60 awards in 2018 totaling $4.1 million to support projects across the nation through the NEA’s Our Town program. Austin College received $42,000 over two years to support Focalpoint(!), and the project is managed in partnership with the City of Sherman/Sherman Cultural District.