LowellArts! announces $37,700 in Minigrants
LOWELL-December 10, 2012:Through the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) Minigrant Program, LowellArts! awarded $29,500 for ARTS PROJECTS to thirteen local arts and cultural organizations and $8,200 for PROFESSIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT to six organizations.
LowellArts! serves as one of nineteen regional regranting agencies for the MCACA. The region covered includes the following seven counties: Ionia, Kent, Lake, Mecosta, Montcalm, Newaygo and Osceola. After much deliberation, the MCACA Minigrant Panel (including representatives from all seven counties) came to a consensus on how to distribute the $37,700.
LowellArts! received nineteen grant applications for ARTS PROJECTS, with a total of $62,250 in requests and $29,500 awarded. Organizations could request up to $4,000 for locally developed, high quality arts and cultural projects, which are special opportunities to address local arts and cultural needs and increase public access to arts and culture. These grants support a broad range of artistic expression from all cultures through projects which preserve, produce or present traditional or contemporary arts and culture and arts education.
The following organizations received ARTS PROJECTS awards:
Organization County Grant Award
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Bethany Christian Services
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Kent
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$2,400
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C.A. Frost School
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Kent
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$1,500
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Grand Rapids Film Festival
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Kent
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$2.000
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Ionia County Area Arts Council
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Ionia
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$3,000
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KVO / CBOT School
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Kent
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$4,000
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Mecosta Area Committee
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Mecosta
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$2,000
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Morton Township Library
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Mecosta
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$4,000
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Palmer Elementary School
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Kent
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$1,500
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Rockford High School
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Kent
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$1,750
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Sherwood Park Global Studies Academy
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Kent
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$1,500
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Sparta Area Chamber of Commerce
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Kent
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$3,500
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TrueNorth Community Services
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Newaygo
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$1,750
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West Michigan Blues Society
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Kent
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$600
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In addition, LowellArts! received seven grant application for PROFESSIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, with a total of $10,500 in requests and $8,200 awarded. Organizations could ask for up to $1,500 to assist nonprofit arts organizations and arts professionals acquire services or skills to strengthen the administrative infrastructure of the organization to do business in Michigan.
Organization County Grant Award
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Artists Creating Together Inc.
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Kent
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$1,500
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Girl’s Choral Academy
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Kent
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$1,500
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Grand Rapids Ballet
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Kent
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$1,100
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St. Cecilia Music Society
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Kent
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$1,500
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West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology
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Kent
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$1,100
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Wheatland Music Organization
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Mecosta
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$1,500
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With the closing of the Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids in 2012, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs chose LowellArts! to administer the MCACA Minigrant program for this region of Michigan. The staff and board of directors of LowellArts! are honored to provide this service for the seven county area. Begun with a grassroots effort in 1977, LowellArts! has grown in its 35 year history, in part as a result of receiving grants from the MCACA. Today LowellArts! offers a full calendar of gallery exhibitions, theatre and music performances and community arts events and festivals in the greater Lowell area. LowellArts! greatly appreciates the efforts of other local arts organizations to foster the arts in their community.
LowellArts! MISSION is to connect regional artists and audiences through the visual and performing arts. LowellArts! VISION is for our community to be a vibrant hub for the arts, bringing audiences and artists together in quality environments. LowellArts! encourages the understanding, appreciation and importance of the arts in the schools and communities we serve and provides opportunities for expression and enjoyment of the arts to all segments of these communities.
