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Pilot Program Boosts ACF Funding to $2.2 Million(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) AKRON, Ohio, June 13 -- Akron Community Foundation issued the following news release: Today, Akron Community Foundation's board of directors approved grants totaling $2,245,983, including $1,605,811 in noncompetitive grants from 112 designated, donor-advised, agency endowment and scholarship funds and $640,172 in competitive arts and culture grants. Overall grant-making increased by more than $300,000 over the previous quarter, and arts and culture grants increased by more than 25 percent over the previous year thanks to a new community foundation initiative to connect fundholders with charitable opportunities in their interest area through the community foundation's competitive grant process. This quarter, a small group of corporate- and donor-advised fundholders, many of whom are arts supporters, reviewed requests from a variety of nonprofit agencies and recommended 14 grants totaling $199,672 for Summit County cultural programs. "This new way of approaching our quarterly grant cycle is beneficial for our fundholders, nonprofits and community as a whole," said John T. Petures Jr., the community foundation's president and CEO. "If a grant comes our way that merits more than our board is able to give and we have fundholders who want to be connected with those types of funding opportunities, we believe it's our duty to be that linkage in the community. Our mission is to connect our fundholders with opportunities that align with their charitable goals while improving our collective quality of life. I believe this does both." The following arts and culture grants were approved from the Howard Atwood Family Fund, H. Peter Burg Fund, Medical Mutual Community Investment Fund, Schloenbach Family Fund and an anonymous fund: Akron Symphony (http://www.akronsymphony.org/), for a summer music camp, youth orchestra coaching, Concerts for Kids series and the annual Gospel Meets Symphony production at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, $35,000 Artists of Rubber City (http://artistsofrubbercity.org/), to publish a book featuring the talents of Ohio's contemporary artists, $1,100 Arts Sparks (http://www.artsparks.co/), for a kindergarten readiness program centered on dance and music, $5,000 Ballet Theatre of Ohio (http://www.ballettheatreohio.org/), for "Take Me Out to the Ballet," a partnership with Akron Public Schools that brings grade school students to an in-theater performance of "The Nutcracker," $10,000 Central Summit County Choral Society (http://www.summitchoralsociety.org/), for the Summit Children's Choir, a vocal and musical education program for local children ages 6 to 8, $30,000 Children's Concert Society (http://www.childrensconcertsociety.org/index.html), to build capacity for the Concert Hall Series through a program that takes kids to the theater, $10,000 Christian Fellowship Basketball League (http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?sid=191825558&url=cfbl3008), for Project Yes I Can, an 8-week program for inner city youth to improve and enhance musical talent, $2,500 City of Twinsburg (http://www.mytwinsburg.com/), for the Night Moves event featuring Verb Ballets, $7,500 ETC School of the Musical Arts (http://www.etc-schoolofmusicalarts.org/), to help qualified students in financial need participate in musical education, performance training and performance opportunities, $8,100 Friends of Historic Glendale Cemetery (http://www.glendaleakron.com/), to support the cemetery's 175th anniversary community celebration and historical education events, $10,000 Kent State University Foundation Inc. (http://www2.kent.edu/wick/index.cfm), to support "Encouraging New Voices," a collaborative initiative between the university's Wick Poetry Center and Akron Public Schools to increase literacy among students, $33,472 Magical Theatre Company (http://www.magicaltheatre.org/), for theater performances and a capital campaign to improve the facility, $35,000 Weathervane Community Playhouse (http://www.weathervaneplayhouse.com/), for its 80th anniversary 2014-15 season of plays, musicals, young actor productions and the 10-Minute Play Festival, $2,000 Youth Excellence Performing Arts Workshop (http://www.yepaw.org/), to support the Summer Intensive Workshop that introduces approximately 300 youth to the arts, $10,000 The following arts and culture grants were awarded from these field-of-interest and unrestricted funds, which were created by charitable residents to support emerging needs in our community: Adam Fund, V.E. (Tom) Atkins Fund, Board of Directors Annual Giving Fund, Charles C. and Dorathea S. Dilley Fund, GAR Foundation Fund for Dance in Summit County, C. Colmery Gibson Polsky Fund, Arthur Kelly Fund, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Fund for Dance in Summit County, William C. Krisher Fund, Polsky Fund, Roush Memorial Fund, Shaw Foundation Fund, Jean P. Stevens Fund and the Community Fund: Actors Summit (http://www.actorssummit.org/), to support seven plays during the 2014-15 season, ranging from classic American dramas to contemporary comedies to musicals, $5,000 Akron Area Arts Alliance (http://www.akronareaarts.org/), for 12-15 annual exhibitions, free arts workshops, Artwalk programming, public programs and artist receptions, and a self-study process of the organization as a response to the countywide arts assessment, $20,000 Akron Art Museum (http://akronartmuseum.org/), to provide operating support for the museum and its enhanced programming such as yoga in the galleries, film premieres, lectures, artist gallery talks and programming for young children, $50,000 Akron Civic Theatre (http://www.akroncivic.com/), to support the 2014-15 season of community-based and in-house programming, and for the All Access Program, which provides 5,000 free tickets for social services agencies to give to economically disadvantaged individuals and families, $20,000 Akron Independent Film Festival Inc., for a film exhibition at The Nightlight Cinema, Akron's independent movie theater set to open in mid-2014, $5,000 Akron Symphony (http://www.akronsymphony.org/), for a summer music camp, youth orchestra coaching, Concerts for Kids series and the annual Gospel Meets Symphony production at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, $25,000 Akron Woman's City Club/Coach House Theatre (http://coachhousetheatre.com/theatre/), to support 2014-15 programming, which will include elder-focused productions and a combined deaf/hearing production in conjunction with Kent State University's American Sign Language department, $2,500 Apollo's Fire (http://www.apollosfire.org/), for the 20th anniversary season in Summit County of baroque concertsand programming, $12,000 Center for Applied Theatre and Active Culture (http://nwplab.com/catac/), for performances, workshops and educational activities during the Balch Street Theatre's 2014-15 season, $2,500 Children's Concert Society (http://www.childrensconcertsociety.org/index.html), for the In-School Concert Series, which introduces more than 30,000 students to diverse types of live fine music, $10,000 City of Akron (http://akrondancefestival.org/), for the 40th year of the Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival, which offers free dance performances in Akron parks, $50,000 The Cleveland Orchestra (http://www.clevelandorchestra.com/index.aspx), to support the 2014 Blossom Music Festival and the Sound for the Centennial Campaign, $35,000 DANCECleveland (http://www.dancecleveland.org/), to bring the renowned Aspen Santa Fe Ballet to Akron for a public performance and community residency that will feature company members in master and college classes, receptions, open rehearsals and more, $10,000 Friends of 91.3 (http://www.913thesummit.com/friends.htm), to increase organizational sustainability through brand expansion, enhanced membership and fundraising initiatives, and ongoing technology investments, $12,500 GroundWorks DanceTheater (http://www.groundworksdance.org/home.php), for Summit County performances at the Selle Generator Complex and the Stage Door Series at E.J. Thomas Hall; educational programs for children; master classes; and other outreach activities, $10,000 Keepers of the Art Inc. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Keepers-of-the-Art/163737250449082), for the 2014 Keepers of the Art Music Showcase of hip-hop and soul music at Lock 3, $10,000 Magical Theatre Company (http://www.magicaltheatre.org/), for theater performances and a capital campaign to improve the facility, $15,000 Master Singers Inc. (http://www.mastersingersinc.org/), for theall-volunteer, non-audition chorale's 2014-15 concert season, $3,000 Ohio Shakespeare Festival (http://www.ohioshakespeare.com/), for outdoor productions of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and "Henry IV, Part 1" at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, $5,000 Project RISE -Akron Public Schools (https://sites.google.com/site/apsprojectrise/home), for the Performing Arts Can Teach (PACT) program, which gives children and families who are experiencing homelessness access to musicals, plays and dance performances, $9,000 RED Company real.edge.dance (http://www.realedgedance.org/), for general operating support for the modern dance company's fourth season of performances and the development of its educational arts center in Akron, $2,500 Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens (http://www.stanhywet.org/), for general operations, programs and the capital campaign to restore key areas of the facilities as the estate prepares for its centennial in 2015, $55,000 Summit County Historical Society of Akron, Ohio (http://summithistory.org/), to support the organization's 90thanniversary of preserving and interpreting the history of Summit County and Akron, $15,000 Tuesday Musical Association (http://www.tuesdaymusical.org/), to support the Time for Three and Joshua Bell concerts, $15,000 Verb Ballets (http://www.tuesdaymusical.org/), for Summit County dance performances, including those at the Akron Civic Theatre, Gay Games 9, area schools, the Akron Art Museum and the Akron-Summit County Public Library, $5,000 Weathervane Community Playhouse (http://www.weathervaneplayhouse.com/), for its 80th anniversary 2014-15 season of plays, musicals, young actor productions and the 10-Minute Play Festival, $9,000 Western Reserve Historical Society (http://www.wrhs.org/), to support educational programming and preservation at Hale Farm & Village, $12,500 Western Reserve Public Media (http://westernreservepublicmedia.org/), to support cultural arts and performance programming such as American Masters, Great Performances, Masterpiece and PBS Arts Showcase, $15,000 CC AutoTriage14sp-140614-30FurigayJane-4767039 30FurigayJane (c) 2014 Targeted News Service [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] |