BEAD to Showcase Bloomington Arts Commission Grant Recipients

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 30, 2012

For more information, please contact:

Miah Michaelsen, Assistant Economic Development Director for the Arts, City of Bloomington, 349.3534.

BEAD to Showcase Bloomington Arts Commission Grant Recipients

BLOOMINGTON, IN - During the month of August, the City of Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District (BEAD) will highlight selected arts projects funded by the Bloomington Arts Commission through the Arts Project Grant Program by way of a special exhibition in the Atrium of City Hall.

Grants are available to nonprofit organizations participating in arts activities that align with current areas of focus of the Arts Commission: to cultivate a community in which residents appreciate the value of personal and collective artistic activity; to encourage collaboration in and diversification of artistic activities that include participants from across the community; to enhance and support a high level of artistry; and to support the economic vitality and interests of local artists and arts organizations.

Seven organizations will be participating in the August exhibit. Each organization was awarded a grant during the 2011 grant cycle. BCT Management, Inc., Bloomington Chamber Singers, Bloomington Playwrights Project, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, Cardinal Stage Company, Ivy Tech John Waldron Art Center and Windfall Dancers are the featured organizations. On exhibit will be descriptions, photographs, programs and other information about the funded projects.

Assistant Economic Development Director for the Arts Miah Michaelsen said that the impetus behind the exhibit was to showcase the impact that Arts Commission funds have on arts activity in the community: "It's a great opportunity for the community to get a glimpse of the end result of public grant funds expended - that there was a real performance or exhibition that occurred and how the public benefited." Michaelsen hopes to make the exhibition an annual event.

Exhibition hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, as well as additional evening and weekend hours when City Hall is open for meetings.

The exhibition program is another effort under the City's strategy to leverage and expand the economic development potential of the arts in Bloomington. According to the 2012 Americans for the Arts study, Arts and Economic Prosperity IV, the local nonprofit arts sector contributes 72.3 million to the economy which includes 3,430 jobs supported throughout the community by the local nonprofit arts sector.

For more information on the exhibition program, contact Miah Michaelsen, Assistant Economic Development Director for the Arts, at michaelm@bloomington.in.gov or (812) 349-3534.

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