Click for a list of the latest grant winners (PDF)
The Arts & Science Council on Tuesday announced an initial round of grants totaling $6.6 million across the region. The grants include money to help pay for a new public art sculpture next to Davidson Town Hall, arts education programs in Cornelius and the Hello Huntersville Music & Arts Festival.
Other grants went to arts and cultural organizations including Carolina Raptor Center, Davidson College, and North Mecklenburg Community Chorus; school programs; theater groups including Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius and Davidson Community Players; and events such as the Dragon Boat/Asian Festival at Ramsey Creek Park in Cornelius, and Davidson’s April Is for Arts festival.
In a press release, the ASC said it fell short of its fundraising goal this year, and focused initial funding on established organizations.
- Related coverage on WFAE-FM, “Arts And Science Council Cuts CMS Field Trip Program” – CMS students won’t be going to the museums this year, at least not on the Arts and Science Council’s dime, and a fund-raising shortfall is the culprit.
Robert Bush
“Our top priority for funding this year was maintaining the operating grants to the 22 arts, science and history organizations that are vital to the overall health of our cultural community,” ASC President Robert Bush said in the press release. “These grants had been cut annually for years, so it was critical for us to keep the funding level flat for these groups to help them retain a strong financial footing.”
For many groups, the consistent funding is welcome. Davidson Community Players got the same amount as 2013-14, and executive director Matt Merrell said: “We are deeply grateful for the support from the Arts and Science Council. It provides us the ability to fulfill our mission of providing live theatre that engages, entertains, enriches and educates our community.”
ASC GRANTS IN NORTH MECKLENBURG
OPERATING SUPPORT GRANTS
- Carolina Raptor Center, Huntersville – $122,318
- Community Arts Project, Cornelius – $6,250 (CAP announced it will shut down Aug. 31. An ASC spokesman said Tuesday the group will get a pro-rated portion of the money.)
- Davidson Community Players, Davidson – $25,000
ASC TOWN INITIATIVES GRANTS
- Town of Cornelius, $5,000 for a series of community engagement projects that will positively impact various segments of the community through access to the arts.
- Town of Davidson, $5,000, to help pay for “The Dancer,” a new public art sculpture by artist Douwe Blumberg to be installed next to Davidson Town Hall.
- Huntersville Parks & Recreation, $5,000, for Hello Huntersville Music & Arts Festival in May 2015.
CULTURAL PROJECT GRANTS
- Davidson College, $5,000 – The college galleries will present an exhibition by Jaume Plensa from from Oct. 16- Dec. 12, 2014, with programming including an artist lecture and panel discussion about public art.
- Rachel Jeffreys, Cornelius, $3,675 – For the stage show “Tales from the Great War,” a blend of entertainment and historic commemoration. That actually runs this weekend, Aug. 1-3, at Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius. (See more in our latest “Theater Notes” column.)
- North Mecklenburg Community Chorus, $3,750 – to help with 2014-15 shows of choral and jazz music.
- Warehouse Performing Arts Center, Cornelius, $5,000 – For “In Translation,” an outreach performance project in which artists from the Warehouse PAC partner with the Montagnard Mission to co-create a performance celebrating the stories/artistry from refugee citizens/communities.
FESTIVALS
- Charlotte Dragon Boat Association, $5,000, to support the 2015 Charlotte Dragon Boat/Asian Festival, May 16, 2015, at Ramsey Creek Park, Cornelius.
- Downtown Davidson, $2,500, for April Is for Arts, a monthlong series of events in Davidson including a gallery crawl and Art on the Green festival and a Concert on the Green.
See the full list of initial Fiscal 2015 grants from the ASC at ArtsandScience.org (PDF)
ASC ANNOUNCEMENT
ASC Announces Initial Investments for 2014-15, 2014 Fund Drive Results
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 29, 2014) – The Arts & Science Council (ASC), the chief advocate and fundraiser for Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s cultural sector, will make an initial investment of $6.6 million in the local cultural community to fund 49 neighborhood cultural projects, festivals, programming in all Mecklenburg County municipalities, and support the operations of 22 cultural organizations.
These investments are a result of ASC’s total fundraising amount of $13 million, which incorporate funds raised through the 2014 Annual Fund Drive, restricted gifts for special projects (such as Project L.I.F.T. intercessions and Knight Innovation), endowment earnings, foundation grants, and public and private funding from the city of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Arts Council, and Mecklenburg municipalities. Richard T. “Stick” Williams, vice president of corporate community affairs at Duke Energy and president of Duke Energy Foundation, chaired the 2014 ASC Annual Fund Drive.
ASC leaders intentionally focused this year’s fund drive efforts solely on unrestricted dollars to support the cultural sector broadly. The 2014 campaign raised $6.1 million. Despite an $800,000 shortfall on a $6.9 million goal ASC set in January, there is no decrease in funding to cultural organizations in Mecklenburg County that receive unrestricted operating support in fiscal year 2014-15.
“Our top priority for funding this year was maintaining the operating grants to the 22 arts, science and history organizations that are vital to the overall health of our cultural community,” said ASC President Robert Bush. “These grants had been cut annually for years, so it was critical for us to keep the funding level flat for these groups to help them retain a strong financial footing.”
To help offset the private sector campaign shortfall, ASC has made reductions internally and in other grant programs. It will also suspend its support of arts, science and history curriculum-based field trips for students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. ASC provided $263,000 in fiscal year 2013-14 to provide field trips for third, sixth and seventh grade students to cultural venues such as Latta Plantation, Discovery Place and Blumenthal Performing Arts.
“This was not an easy decision for us to make – none of the cuts were,” Bush said. “However, the donors that stepped up to restore funding for field trips and bus transportation after they were eliminated in 2009 let us know those additional funds were always meant to be temporary. Without an increase in financial support from the public or private sectors, we cannot sustain the funding for these field trips.”
Additionally, ASC will reduce the amount it distributes in School Grants, Technical Assistance and Professional Development Grants, and Cultural Project Grants and Festival Grants.
Among a range of projects and programs, ASC’s initial investments will support the YMCA of Greater Charlotte’s Camp Boomerang, an inclusion-based summer camp for children with and without autism that provides music therapy for all campers. Funding will enable One Voice Chorus to present their holiday concert featuring a 60-member chorus and ensemble in locations across Mecklenburg County. ASC dollars will also allow the Southeast Asian Coalition to offer a digital storytelling project for Southeast Asian youth to visually and creatively share their experiences as refugees coming of age in Charlotte.
“Providing access to cultural experiences that are personally empowering and transformative is fundamental to the continued growth of our community,” Bush said. “ASC invests in an array of arts, science, history/heritage and community-based projects that are not only educational, entertaining and enriching, but also keep our region fun and fascinating.”
RELATED LINKS
See a full list of initial Fiscal 2015 grants from the ASC at ArtsandScience.org (PDF)
