Bloomington Arts Commission Announces 2014 Arts Project Grant Award Recipients

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 12, 2014

For more information, please contact:

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

Bloomington Arts Commission Announces 2014 Arts Project Grant Award Recipients

Bloomington, Ind. -- The City of Bloomington Arts Commission is pleased to announce its 2014 Art Project Grant recipients.

Grants are made 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.

Twenty-five organizations in the Bloomington community submitted grant applications for specific arts programs and were evaluated in three categories: artistic quality, community impact and organizational capacity. The following fifteen organizations received the highest ranking and were granted funding during this year's grant round:

Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, $1,303.64 for the 2014 Holiday Concerts at Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

Bloomington Playwrights Project, $1,330.91 for their After School EdVentures Program.

Bloomington PRIDE, Ltd, $1,371.00 for the 2015 Bloomington PRIDE Film Festival.

Bloomington Chamber Singers, $1,253.18 for their 2014 Fall Concert: Monteverdi's "Vespro della Beata Virgine".

Monroe County Historical Society, Inc, $1,333.64 for a Photography Exhibit: "Pigeon Hill, Then and Now".

Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington, $1,291.36 for members to create a Musical Arts Garden.

Jazz From Bloomington, $1,332.27 for the 2014 Grant Street Jazz Fest.

Bloomington Open Studios Tour, $1,296.82 for the 2014 Bloomington Open Studios Tour.

Writers Guild at Bloomington, $1,315.91 for the Spoken Word Stage at the 2014 4th Street Festival of the Arts.

Lotus Education and Arts Foundation, $1,395.00 to increase education and engagement at the 2014 Lotus in the Park.

Shalom Community Center, Inc, $1,276.36 for their More Than Homeless Public Art Project Planning Process.

WonderLab Museum $1,398.00 for fiber sculptures to support an exhibit on ants.

Carlson-Palmer Productions, $816.52 to perform "Bewitched by Love" - Selections from Broadway and Opera.

New Hope Family Shelther, $1,336.36 for their Story of Hope Art Program.

Krampus Legend and Arts Workshop, $1,358.18 for 2014 Krampus Night.

The Arts Project Grant 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, Bloomington's nonprofit arts sector contributes $72.3 million to the local economy annually through direct spending by arts organizations and their audiences. For more information on the study visit www.bloomington.in.gov/arts.

The next cycle of applications for Arts Project Grants will be due in 2015. For more information on the Bloomington Arts Commission or its grant program, visit http://bloomington.in.gov/bac, or contact Miah Michaelsen, Assistant Economic Development Director for the Arts, at michaelm@bloomington.in.gov or (812) 349-3534.

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