Winchester Star article and copy of the Certificate of Authenticity for the Virginia Governor from Sanctuary on the Trail artist Rene' Locklear White - bringing recognition to Native American Indian people and culture with support from community and volunteers who care. Special thanks to Winchester Star Cathy Kuehner and Clarke County Tourism Director Len Capelli.

FROM CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY
​    According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, “More than 90 percent of crop varieties have disappeared from farmer’s fields; half of the breeds of many domestic animals have been lost. In fisheries, all the world’s 17 main fishing grounds are now being fished at or above their sustainable limits.”
     According to the Center for Biological Diversity, “In the past 500 years, we know of approximately 1,000 species that have gone extinct, from the woodland bison of West Virginia and Arizona’s Merriam’s elk to the Rocky Mountains.”
     According to the FAO, with this decline, agrobiodiversity is disappearing; the scale of the loss is extensive. With the disappearance of harvested species, varieties and breeds, a wide range of unharvested
species also disappear.
    Since the 1900’s, some 75 percent of the plants genetic diversity has been lost as farmers worldwide have left their multiple local varieties and landraces for genetically uniform, high-yielding varieties.
    Today, 30 percent of livestock breeds are at risk of extinction; six breeds are lost each month. And 75 percent of the world’s food is generated from only 12 plants and five animal species. 

Native American Indian couple Chris and Rene’ White, CEO and president of Sanctuary on the Trail™ successfully applied for Virginia's Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship in the mixed media category today. All applicants will be notified by letter the first week of Feb 2017 if they win.
     If awarded, Chris and Rene’ will receive $8,000 for collaborative art work they do with Sanctuary on the Trail™ to bring recognition to contributions of Native American Indian people and to reduce suffering. If they win they must remain a permanent VA resident during the grant period of Aug 2017–May 2018.
    The Fellowship was established in 1940 through a generous donation by the late John Lee Pratt of Fredericksburg. Today the Fellowship is also supplemented by annual gifts from the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation and the J. Warwick McClintic Jr. Scholarship Fund.
     Earlier this year, Chris and Rene’ received a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts to teach children how to build an Indian Village. Sanctuary on the Trail™ is part of the Artisan Trail. They are part of the Clarke County Studio Tour and Top of Virginia Artisan Trail. 
     In October, Clarke County selected Rene's gourd art to represent Clarke county as an ornament for the Governor's holiday tree. Chris designed the box (which can also hang) to carry her ornament.
     Sanctuary on the Trail is a Native American Indian faith-based non-profit church helping leaders first and bringing recognition to contributions of indigenous to reduce suffering. The couple along with a dedicated team of 25 volunteers are currently planning to bring The Gathering 2017 to Clarke County Fairgrounds. The Gathering is an educational, celebration of agri-CULTURE. They are expecting twice the attendance (10,000)  of last year’s event.