Fiscal Year 2009 / Round I
Iowa Arts Council Organization and Arts in Education Grant Awards
The Iowa Arts Council received 78 eligible Major grant applications on April 1st, for the first round of FY09 funding. Applicants requested a total of $667,837 for Arts projects. Twenty-six projects were selected for funding, with grant awards totaling $194,600. There is a possible total score of 44 points. Although a score of 33 or above would be considered fundable, available funding did not allow for grants scoring below 41.67, leaving many worthwhile projects unfunded.
African American Museum of Iowa, Cedar Rapids
Connected to Africa: Haitian Art in Iowa
$7,100
The African American Museum of Iowa plans an exhibit emphasizing African traditions in Haitian art. Artifacts for this exhibit will be borrowed from the Waterloo Center for the Arts and the Figge Art Museum. IAC grant funding supports the CCBdance Project, a Chicago dance troupe specializing in Haitian dance, in a performance at the exhibit opening.
Amana Arts Guild, Amana
Amana Folk Arts Video Project
$6,400
The Amana Arts Guild will use IAC funds to produce Amana Folk Arts and Traditions Volume II, a DVD documenting folks arts and cultural traditions of the historic Amana Colonies not covered in Volume I "Remaining Faithful" which was successfully completed in 1998.
Boys and Girls Clubs of the Midlands, Council Bluffs
Embellished Art Mural to celebrate "Community"
$4,300
IAC grant funding will support a project under the artistic direction of Bob Wilson and Beth Davis, of Wilson Custom Tile. Tiles will be created by students at Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt and Wilson schools to create a mural in the new site of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Midlands in the Lakin Human Services Complex in Council Bluffs...celebrating the theme of "Community"!
Brooke Joyce, Decorah
Waves of Stone: Music by Brooke Joyce
$6,500
I propose to create a professional CD of original compositions inspired by Iowa, to be released on the Innova label, featuring musicians from the Decorah area, including the Murasaki Duo, Unison Piano Duo, Spencer Martin, Andrew Whitfield, and Carol Hester.
Gabriel Espinosa, Pella
Gabriel Espinosa - Forty years of Music
$8,500
After forty years in the music business as a performer and educator, artist Gabriel Espinosa, will record original music and produce a CD with some of the best jazz musicians of today.
City of Council Bluffs - First Night, Council Bluffs
First Night Council Bluffs
$8,500
First Night is a non-alcoholic community event that celebrates the New Year through the Arts. IAC grant funding supports this multi-cultural event filled with all types of art: music, dance, song, performance, visual, and more. Professional artists offer multiple performances at several venues in our historic downtown, culminating in a midnight finale.
Des Moines Metro Opera Inc, Indianola
OPERA Iowa Touring Educational Troupe
$8,500
Opera Iowa will use IAC grant funds to present 350 classroom workshops and 70+ performances of Rossini's LA CENERENTOLA (Cinderella) and the world premiere performances of Michael Patterson's A DREAM FULFILLED: THE SAGA OF GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER. Artistic Director Robert L. Larsen and Artistic Administrator Michael Egel will oversee this project.
Graceland University, Lamoni
Hubbard Street 2 - Modern Dance Experience for South Central Iowa
$7,800
Graceland University will use grant funding to bring the Hubbard Street 2 Dance Group to South Central Iowa for three days of performances and workshops. This outstanding Midwest dance group (now, over 100 years old) will bring modern dance to a large audience and involve children in movement workshops and youth in master classes.
John Domini, Des Moines
Cooking the Octopus: Discovering Naples, My Father, and Myself
$8,500
Artist, John DominiI will use IAC grant funding to finish a memoir, COOKING THE OCTOPUS: DISCOVERING NAPLES, MY FATHER, AND MYSELF. The narrative explores, as a means of recovery from midlife tragedies of his own, , his family's roots in an ancient, troubled seaport, long-kept secrets of the last world war, and the pain of immigration.
John Paul Schafer, Cedar Rapids
Mural for Independence Public Library
$8,500
Artist, John Paul Schafer will use IAC grant funds to create a 9-by-24-foot, mixed-media painting for the main entrance of the new Independence (Iowa) Public Library facility, which is currently under construction. This mural will be painted on a series of single canvases that, by design, will fit together to complete the overall image.
Legion Arts, Cedar Rapids
Iowa World Music Festival
$8,500
IAC grant funds will help Legion Arts produce the first Iowa World Music Festival In September 2008. Lasting 10 to 12 days, and featuring professional musicians from up to 12 countries, the project will involve concerts, workshops, panels, exhibits and receptions at a variety of venues in the Cedar Rapids area. We expect this to become an annual event.
Matthew Clay, Ottumwa
Epic Tale
$3,900
Artist Matthew Clay will use grant funds to help procude"Epic Tale", a concept album which is a collection of modern pop/rock songs with a mix of musical styles and influences. This rock opera will be packaged on CD along with a mini comic book and will be supported by a uniquely designed web site and online presence.
Michael S. Cash,Coralville
The Dragon with the Three Golden Feathers
$6,000
I will complete the first phase of a feature length animation. Eric Forsythe (University of Iowa Theatre Arts), William LaRue Jones (University of Iowa Orchestra Director), Monica Leo (Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre), Kate Carol (Kate Carol and Company Dance), and William Cash will lend their talents to the project.
Omaha Symphony Association, Omaha
Omaha Symphony's 2008/09 Education Programs
$8,500
The Omaha Symphony offers comprehensive educational programming to prekindergarten through high school aged students throughout southwest Iowa. They are dedicated to maintaining accessible musical opportunities for every classroom, and will use IAC funding to help creating innovative programming that serves as an accessible, adaptable and core resource for educators and youth.
pARTners Unlimited, Des Moines
Arts for New Audiences
$8,500
With IAC grant funding, pARTners Unlimited will serve high risk youth at state-wide sites in a team arts experience. Professional artists with specialized training will guide the teams as they create ART CARS, transforming running automobiles into visual and performance art. The ART CARS will later be showcased in local celebrations and parades as well as statewide events.
Quad City Arts, Rock Island
Quad City Arts' Visiting Artist Series 08-09 season
$8,500
Quad City Arts will use IAC grant funding for their 2008isiting Artist Series. During their 35th anniversary they will present approximately 200 educational programs to broaden student and adult understanding of the performing arts. The artists are world-renowned musicians, dancers and actors. Free or low-cost public concerts will provide additional community access to these artists.
Riverside Theatre, Iowa City
Coffe and Hope: a new play by Ron Clark
$8,500
Riverside Theatre will use IAC funding to support the public premiere of COFFEE AND HOPE, a new play by Ron Clark, co-founder of the Iowa City-based professional theatre. The play is based on interviews with men from across the country (including Iowa) who have served as caregivers for a loved one with breast cancer.
Robert John Ford, Des Moines
SIX-ON-SIX -- The Musical
$8,500
SIX-ON-SIX is a musical comedy that celebrates one of Iowa's most cherished traditions - six-on-six girls' basketball. Robert John Ford will use IAC funding to help pay more than 50 Iowa theatre artists who will present eight performances of the play to Iowa audiences February 26th through March 8th, 2009.
Salisbury House Foundation, Des Moines
Shakespeare on the Lawn and Midsummer Day Camps/Workshops
$8,500
IAC grant funding will support a professional outdoor production of a Shakespeare play directed by Lorenzo Sandoval which employs 30+ actors/artists playing to 1,500+ audience members over six summer evenings. Actors facilitate the related day camps/workshops for underserved youth, introducing an art form that for some is new and may expand future audiences for live performance.
Simpson College, Indianola
Simpson College Young Writers Conference
$6,000
IAC grant funding supports The Simpson College Young Writers Conference as they celebrate the art of writing for Iowa middle school students and language arts teachers through a presentation by Poetry Alive! and sessions presented by Iowa Arts Council rostered artists: songwriter Dave Moore, playwright Cynthia Mercati, poetry/author Lorraine Duggin, author/photographer Robert Campagna, as well as additional Iowa artists.
Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Sioux City
Sioux City Symphony's Christmas Spectacular featuring Brule'
$8,500
IAC grant funding supports the Sioux City Symphony in their collaboration with the Native American music group Brule'. This will be the first ever collaboration of a symphony orchestra and an award winning Native American music group. IAC funding will finance the creation of the orchestral charts, production, and performances of Brule with the SCSO.
Stan Crocker, Mt Vernon
Light & Found
$8,500
Artist Stan Crocker will use IAC grant funding to sculpt new art work. Using light; color, intensity, focus and shadow that is ever changing, his art leads the viewer to new perceptions of found elements and their relationships. Abandoned farm machinery, broken trees, truck parts, scrap metal, shattered windshields, fan blades, window screen and bottles are molded into monolithic sculptures of light and found element.
The Sparks Fly Upward Foundation, Des Moines
The Sparks Fly Upward
$8,500
This IAC grant support to The Sparks Fly Upward Foundation, will allow them to bring the musical drama/opera, The Sparks Fly Upward to Des Moines, IA at Hoyt Sherman Place for the world premier on November 8, 2008 - the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. This is a story that follows three German families in Berlin, two Jewish and one Christian, through the Holocaust.
Spencer Area Concert Association, Spencer
A World of Music with Todd Green
$8,000
In each of six project communities, multi-instrumentalist Todd Green’s public performance will feature original music inspired by many different cultures around the world on more than 30 acoustic string, flute and percussion instruments. In conjunction, there will be “show-and-tell-type” demonstrations of the instruments for K-12 students and underserved adults.
Tarahouse Meditation Center, Sioux City
Sand Mandala construction at Eppley Art Gallery
$2,600
IAC grant funding will help suport Tarahouse Meditation Center to being seven monks from Gaden Shartse (Tibetan) Monastery in India toconstruct an elaborate, two-dimensional sand mandala over 4 days. The public will be able to watch the entire process. Upon completion the mandala will sit for viewing one day, and then be destroyed on the sixth day. At the ending ceremony, attenders will be able to take some of the sand home with them to commemorate the experience.
Leighton Pierce, Iowa City
Agency of Time
$8,500
Leighton Pierce will use IAC grant funding to create this three tiered project, "Agency of Time", an immersive video and sound installation, a single channel experimental video, and a book of photographs. Installations scheduled for Sheldon Art Museum in Lincoln NE and at Coe College Cedar Rapids, IA.