The Contemporary Museum's Transformation and Transportation school program has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation, museum executive director Georgianna Lagoria announced today.

"We are so pleased to have funding to support this important school visit program for grades K-5 in light of the severe budget cuts our public schools are facing this year," Lagoria said. "Many Hawai'i schoolchildren have never experienced an art museum, and this program will be providing funding for buses, preparatory visits by art educators in the classrooms, as well as gallery tours and a hands-on art activity for the students.

Transformation and Transportation is a free TCM educational program that revolves around five sequential components designed for enhancing students' curriculum through arts education. The program includes teacher workshops, pre-field trip classroom visits by a teaching artist, free roundtrip bus transportation to TCM, guided tours of the galleries followed by an artist-led, hands-on art activity with the students, and complimentary passes to enable teachers to attend exhibitions and other educational programs.

For more information about the Transformation and Transportation program or The Contemporary Museum, visit www.tcmhi.org. Exhibition Information: 526-0232; Reception: 526-1322.