For Immediate Release: November 1, 2006
Contact: Jeff Morgan
Public Relations
515.281.3858
Jeff.Morgan@iowa.gov
Iowa Arts Council awards $102,500 in Major Grants
Major arts and organizational grant requests total $1.1 million during fiscal year 2007
(DES MOINES, Iowa)—The Iowa Arts Council announced today it has awarded 16 major arts and organizational grants totaling $102,500 to individuals and organizations serving Iowans across the state.
IAC received 52 Major Grant applications requesting $443,068 this fall to fund projects developed by individual artists, arts organizations, schools and other community groups working to bring excellence in the arts to all Iowans. The program emphasizes artistic excellence, service to Iowans, and solid project planning and implementation. Applicants may request up to $10,000 but no more than 50 percent of the project’s total expenses.
“With the support of these grants, independent artists and those who work in cultural and educational organizations can continue to create art and learning opportunities that are changing the landscape of Iowa,” said Anita Walker, director of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, which oversees the Iowa Arts Council. “Through these grants, we are taking steps to make sure these individuals and organizations can reach out and share the best of what the arts can offer to audiences across the state.”
Today’s announcement marks the end of the second and final round of Major Grants awarded during fiscal year 2007. Overall, IAC received 130 Major Grant applications requesting $1,130,540, and awarded 44 grants totaling $256,000 during fiscal year 2007.
“The number of applications we received this year is encouraging because it reflects the passion Iowans have for the arts,” Walker said. “The choices we made in identifying the projects were very difficult. We want to support the arts in Iowa more broadly because they impact economic development and make our communities great places to live, work and play. We are, however, forced to work within the limits of the resources available to us.”
The Iowa Arts Council is a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and works to enrich the quality of life and learning in Iowa communities by encouraging excellence in the arts through leadership, grants and technical assistance. Funding for the Iowa Arts Council and its programs is provided by the State of Iowa and the National Endowment for the Arts. Please visit www.iowaartscouncil.org for more information.
The following projects were awarded IAC Major Grant funding this fall:
(City)
(Name)
(Title)
(Grant Amount)
(Purpose)
Cedar Falls
Scott Robert Hudson
Echos and Apparitions
$2,100
Funding for this project will support the artist to proceed with ecological/archaeological
installations and a roundtable panel discussion on the ecology of art, symbolism
and sustainable culture at the University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art
in June 2007.
Cedar Rapids
Brent Watkins
The Heroes of Parlor Town
$2,500
The Heroes of Parlor Town combines video, oral history and live piano performance
by Brent Watkins to trace the transformation of American Popular Music by
African-American composers from the 1890s to the early 1920s. The presentation
offers compelling historical insight into the struggle of black musicians
to overcome racial and cultural stereotypes.
Coon Rapids
City of Coon Rapids
Enhancing the Visual Environment
$9,800
Coon Rapids is initiating a multi-year streetscaping project that will design
and implement hardscape and landscape elements that reflect a consistent aesthetic
approach that includes the placement and design of public art. This grant
will fund implementation of one or more elements of public art as specified
in streetscaping plan.
Des Moines
Ballet Des Moines
Ballet Des Moines’ June 2007 Performance
$8,000
Ballet Des Moines will create and present a “triple-bill” on June
8-9 featuring three diverse ballets with original choreography by Serkan Usta
and Ma Cong. Eight professional dancers (including Ma Cong, Rupert Edwards,
Justin McMillan, Lori Grooters, Julie Grooters, and Alexandra Bergman) will
be in residence for four weeks.
Des Moines
Jann Freed
Daring to Be: Portraits of Mexican Women Leaders}
$7,500
Daring to Be began as a bilingual black and white photography exhibit of women
from Yucatan, Mexico that has traveled around Iowa since 2000. The exhibit
has been transformed into a book of photographs, in-depth profiles, and analysis
of their leadership. This grant will help with the publication costs and in
establishing a permanent photography collection for Iowa.
Des Moines
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Westminster Fine Arts Series (spring season)
$9,000
The Westminster Fine Arts Series is a series of free public arts events presented
at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Des Moines. Support is for the spring
series, which includes vocal and instrumental concerts by local, national
and international touring artists, and a theatrical production of a Pulitzer
Prize-winning play produced by Iowa artists.
Farragut
Michael Carey
Night Train: Poems by Juan Ramon Jimenez
$5,000
Funding will allow the artist to obtain one-on-one expert Spanish language
editorial assistance from Cuban/American Professor Ozzie Diaz-Duque of the
University of Iowa (and through him from the famous Chilean poet Oscar Hahn)
on finishing a large and internationally significant book of translations
of the poetry of the Spanish Nobel laureate (and long-time U.S. resident)
Juan Ramon Jimenez.
Forest City
Waldorf Community Artist Series
Waldorf Community Artist Series – Spring 2007
$3,400
With this grant the Waldorf Community Artist Series will showcase three performers
in the spring of 2007. They include: The Minneapolis Guitar Quartet - Feb.
3, 2007; The River City Chorus - March 26, 2007; and Pridonoff Piano Duo -
April 14, 2007.
Indianola
Simpson College
Simpson College Young Writers’ Conference
$7,100
The Simpson College Young Writers’ Conference will 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, poet/author Lorraine Duggin, playwright Cynthia
Mercati and other Iowa artists.
Iowa City
Iarmac
IARGUS 2007 (International Annual Russian Guitar Seminar and Festival)
$6,500
Funding will support the International Annual Russian Guitar Seminar and Festival
(IARMAC) to organize the second International Festival of Russian Guitar,
offering a week of lectures, master classes, and concerts on the unique Russian
7-string guitar. Highlights are the inauguration of the Russian Guitar Quartet
and the world premiere of a new concerto for 7-string guitar by Italian composer
Angelo Gilardino.
Iowa City
The University of Iowa Arts Share Program
Maia Quartet Residency with the Danish Immigrant Museum
$5,300
The University of Iowa Arts Share Program, with the support of this grant,
will bring the Maia Quartet to Elk Horn, Iowa, and its surrounding communities
for an extended residency. These communities have been chosen for their rich
Scandinavian history and the repertoire for this project will focus on Scandinavian
composers. This project will involve close collaboration with the Danish Immigrant
Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa.
Iowa City
The University of Iowa/Hancher Auditorium
Cashore Marionettes, “Simple Gifts”
$10,000
Hancher Auditorium will present Cashore Marionettes’ “Simple Gifts”
January 23-27 for two public performances and seven school matinee performances
for 5th and 6th grade students. They will work with Iowa City schools and
University of Iowa service learning Counseling and Art Education students
and faculty to develop guidance and art lessons.
Marion
Marion Chamber of Commerce
Music for Seniors
$5,800
Music for Seniors brings two weeks worth of educational chamber music events
to senior citizens January 17-May 30, 2007. Music events are held in venues
and facilities where and when seniors normally congregate. With the support
from this grant, this underserved population will hear classical music reflecting
Iowa’s ethnic & cultural heritage. IAC rostered artists Jan Boland,
John Dowdall and Michael Kimber will be hired.
Sioux City
Sioux City Community Schools, Music Department
Opera Iowa
$4,500
With support from this grant, the Sioux City Community School District will
host OPERA IOWA February 5-9, 2006. OPERA IOWA will present workshops and
performances of “The Billy Goats Gruff” for 3rd grade students
of the Sioux City Community School District. The troupe will also hold a master
class for the high school vocal music students.
Waterloo
Edgar East
The Afro Latin Project
$10,000
This grant will allow Latin American musician and Iowa resident Ed East to
further the establishment of a company that will perform folkloric Latin American
songs and dances of African origin, accompanied by a Folkloric percussion
ensemble and singers.
West Liberty
Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre
Portraits of the Prairie
$6,000
Support will allow the Eulenspeigel Puppet Theatre to mount a production giving
a light-hearted history of the prairie. The set, by Peggy Fitzgerald, is a
four-tiered painting reminiscent of Grant Wood. With music composed by Ron
Hillis, the show will be offered as a residency project, with students learning
and performing peripheral parts.