Drishti Art Foundation was registered as a Trust in 2010 by the dynamic couple, Anuradha Vikranth and Vikranth T.M. to promote and propagate Bharatanatyam and other classical arts. It has been a very challenging and exciting experience for this couple who have explored different kinds of activities to fulfill the objectives of the trust. Some of the notable activities are:
- Establishing and running a classical dance training Institute – Drishti Art Centre
- Publishing a magazine – Drishti Magazine
- Conducting dance and music festivals, workshops or seminars – to highlight and popularize classical arts among all sections of society, from connoisseurs to the common man.
Drishti Art Foundation has been organizing the Drishti National Dance Festival every year since 2006 at Bengaluru. Artists from various parts of India are invited to perform in this prestigious annual event which has become one of the most popular and admired cultural events in India.
Anuradha Vikranth is the founder and managing trustee of Drishti Art Foundation. A renowned Bharatanatyam danseuse, known for her vibrancy and grace, Anuradha has given numerous performances on prestigious occasions in India and abroad and won great appreciation from critics and art lovers alike. Besides being a stellar performer, she is a passionate teacher, a creative choreographer, an able organizer and above all, ever-willing to explore new ideas, learn more and share with her aspiring students.
Vikranth is the co-founder and is the backbone of all the activities of Drishti Art Foundation. An engineer by qualification, T.M. Vikranth is the Director of Drishti Media, a graphic design and printing company specializing in designing and printing brochures, magazines and other exclusive publications for artists, corporates, educational institutions, builders and developers. His creative and aesthetic brochure designing, particularly in the field of dance and music, has made him very popular among artists, both in India and abroad.
One of the trustees of Drishti Art Foundation, Dr. T.M. Manjunath is a Ph.D. in Agricultural Entomology from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru. He is an internationally renowned agricultural scientist with over four decades of research and executive experience as a scientist in the Agricultural University and as Director of a national and multi-national company. He has worked extensively and published more than a hundred research papers in the areas of biological pest control, integrated pest management and agricultural biotechnology. He serves in several national and international scientific panels.
Apart from being a passionate scientist, Dr. Manjunath is deeply interested in various arts, sports and social services. He has directed and acted in a number of Kannada plays. As a member (and Melvin Jones Fellow) of the Lions Clubs International since 1981, he has been involved in numerous service activities. He is the Chief Patron of Drishti Art Centre. Dr. Manjunath has been the guiding force behind all the activities of Drishti Art Foundation and he continues to motivate and inspire Anuradha and Vikranth in all their endeavours in promoting the classical arts.
OBJECTIVES OF THE DRISHTI ART FOUNDATION
- To provide support and sustenance to identified forms of Indian dance and music, as also crafts associated with performing arts, mainly through specialized training programmes..
- To preserve the variegated richness of the performing art traditions of India by providing direct substantial support to their training and performance activities.
- To create for artists more performance opportunities to promote classical dance and music.
- To provide scholarships to the worthy and talented artists.
- To conduct workshops and seminars by eminent personalities in the field for the transmission of learning from senior artists to the young.
- To provide support to such forms, styles and traditions of art that do not otherwise receive encouragement in the normal course.
- To establish, maintain, improve or extend, make donations to, aid or finance libraries, reading rooms, centers of study and the like which have as their aim the advancement of arts and education of the public.
Advisory Board
Sri. Krishna Byre Gowda (Member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly, Karnataka)
Sri. Dayananda Pai (Philanthropist, Industrialist & Educationalist)
Dr. Ashwathnarayan C.N. (Deputy Chief Minister, Karnataka)
Dr. Raghavendra R.V. (Managing trustee – Ananya Cultural Academy)
Smt. Veena Murthy Vijay (Senior Kuchipudi dance Guru)
Sri. Rajendra T.D. and Smt. Nirupama Rajendra (Internationally renowned Kathak dancers)