Bloomington Arts Commission’s 2016 Arts Project Grants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 7, 2016

For more information, please contact: Mary Catherine Carmichael, Communications Director, 812-349-2489, carmichm@bloomington.in.gov

Bloomington Arts Commission's 2016 Arts Project Grants

Bloomington, Ind. - The City of Bloomington Arts Commission (BAC) awards 17 local organizations with Art Project Grants that cultivate community, encourage collaboration and enhance the arts across Bloomington. The General public is invited to attend the award ceremony in the atrium of City Hall on June, 22nd 2016 from 6:00 PM - 6:45 PM.

"The BAC Art Project Grant continues to support the tradition of assisting artists and arts organizations to pursue ambitious projects that propel the vitality and variety of art experiences available to the Bloomington community," commented Sean Starowitz, Assistant Director for the Arts and Staff Liaison to the BAC.

This project is an 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 the website.

Here is a brief summary of the proposals that received funding:

Bloomington Boogies

Craig Brenner: ($1,300)

To support the second annual Bloomington Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano Festival, August 14 -15, 2016 in downtown Bloomington and at Fairview Elementary School.

Bloomington Chamber Singers

Christiana Redman: ($1,250)

To support a new Holiday Classics concert in December 2016, incorporating in the performance at least one choir from a local public school to allow for a multi-generational experience.

Bloomington Creative Glass Center

Abby Gitlitz: ($800)

To support the Glass EGGstravaganza on April 1, 2017, where anyone over the age of five can interact with glass artists and design their own fused glass artwork and have it fired.

Bloomington Open Studios Tour

Elizabeth Busey: ($1,300)

To support the 2016 Open Studios tour June 3-5, 2016 in which 36 local visual artists invite the public into their studios to share their creative environment and works of art.

Bloomington Playwrights Project

Jessica Reed: ($1,300)

To support the BPP After School EdVentures, a series of after school drama classes for students in grades K-6 at six MCCSC elementary schools, between September and May.

Bloomington PRIDE

Sarah Perfetti: ($1,200)

To support Summerfest, a day-long celebration of queer people and allies with live performances, educational workshops and activities for all ages in downtown Bloomington on August 27, 2016.

Bloomington Symphony Orchestra

Donna Lafferty: ($1,250)

To support the program "Beautiful Dreamer" on Sunday, October 2, 2016 in which the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra and guest soloists from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music's Department of Opera Studies will present a concert celebrating opera and the beauty of the natural world.

Bloomington Trashion, a project of the Center for Sustainable Living

Kelly Richardson: ($400)

To support Trashion Refashion, a two-part fashion show featuring original designs made from materials destined for the landfill, at the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre on April 9, 2017.

B'Town Jazz

John Porter: ($1,200)

To support the fifth annual B'Town Jazz Fest in downtown Bloomington on Saturday, August 20, featuring 11 jazz combos made up of about 50 Bloomington-based professional jazz musicians.

Carlson-Palmer Productions

Richard Lewis: ($1,200)

To support the program "Taking a Chance on Love: Moonlight and Romance in Broadway and Opera" on Sunday, July 24, 2016 at Fairview United Methodist Church in Bloomington's Near West Side.

Lotus Education and Arts Foundation

Kristin Varella: ($1,400)

To support the Lotus visual-arts initiative, "1 Million Stars to End Violence: Lotus International Star-Weaving Project," at the Lotus Arts Village, free and open to the public during the 2016 Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, September 16-17, 2016.

Middle Coast Inc

Jessica Reed: ($1,250)

To support the Middle Coast Film Festival on July 29-30, 2016, with screenings of short and feature films, web-based episodes, and music videos at the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre and Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center, and bringing in over 60 industry leaders for panel discussions, Q&As, and networking events.

New Voices Opera

Benjamin Smith: ($1,250)

To support the 2017 Spring Double Bill world premieres of two operas by Matthew Recio and Kyle Rotolo at the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre on May 4, 2017.

Slam Camp Youth Poetry Festival

Adam Henze: ($1,200)

To support the 2016 Slam Camp, a summer poetry slam camp for high-school-aged writers and performers, to be held for the first time in Bloomington from June 20-25, 2016 and to include evening public performances in downtown venues.

Stages Bloomington

Pat Gleeson: ($1,400)

To support Brundibar, a one-act opera by Hans Krasa, to be presented in a new partnership with the Jewish Theatre of Bloomington. The first performances took place in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in the 1940s, with updates by Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendack in the early 2000s.

WonderLab Museum of Science, Health and Technology

Alison Polley: ($1,300)

To support the "Science of Art" series on First Fridays in June, August and September, 2016. Local artists will include limestone carvers, youth artists, and kinetic artists.

Writers Guild at Bloomington

Tony Brewer: ($1,000)

To support the Spoken Word Stage at the 4th Street Festival during Labor Day weekend. Now in its sixth year, the stage showcases readings and performances by over 60 local and regional artists, and also presents Poetry on Demand, where festival-goers may suggest a topic to a fleet of poets who then craft a poem to order, type it up on a typewriter, perform it personally, and give a copy on cardstock to the recipient.

For more information contact Staff Liaison, Bloomington Arts Commission, Sean Starowitz, at starowis@bloomington.in.gov or 812-349-3534.

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