Dane Arts Awards $132,000 to Community Projects

May 19, 2015
Mark Fraire, 608-266-5915
County Executive

Fifty-nine grants supporting arts and cultural activities countywide with public-private funds

MADISON- Today, the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission announced 56 project grants totaling $127,000 for community arts, cultural, and local history programs, and 3 capital grants in the amount of $5,200 were awarded to local recipients. In the Commission’s first Grant Cycle of the year, county dollars were combined with funds from the Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation, the Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. Grant recipients can be found below.

“The following projects shows how individuals and groups are expressing themselves, entertaining, teaching and engaging their communities,” said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. “Dane County is fortunate to be home to so many wonderful opportunities and to benefit from their work.”

This year, Dane Arts will award almost $270,000 in public-private funds to nonprofit organizations, schools, individuals, and municipalities for arts, cultural, and local history projects and programs offered countywide. The next project grant deadline is Saturday, August 1, 2015.

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Dane County Cultural Affairs- Dane Arts is situated in the heart of county government. Its mission includes honoring and supporting the arts, history, and culture of Dane County. It is our goal to raise the visibility of the arts across disciplines to show the economic, cultural, and community impact the arts achieve as well as raise the academic achievements generated by the young people who participate in our creative arts programming.

2015 Cycle 1 Project Grants Funded:

Arts in Education

American Players Theatre, $4,200 for Student Martinees and workshops, Drawing from over 35 Dane County schools, APT will perform student matinees of the highest quality for over 3,000 elementary, middle and high school students in the fall of 2015. Many of these students will be from rural and underserved areas; many will be seeing classical theater live for the first time.

Middleton Players Theatre, $2365 for Miss Saigon,Middleton Players Theatre (MPT) presents the bold and lavish and bold musical MISS SAIGON, the epic musical story of love between a Vietnamese woman and a US Marine whose worlds are shattered by the fall of Saigon. This brave and often controversial show has captivated audiences all over the world

Opera for the Young, Inc., $2275 for The Magic Flute, Funding from Dane Arts will support the countywide school tour of a new production based on Die ZauberFlöte (or The Magic Flute) by composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Teaching materials will include tutorial CDs, a teacher's guide about opera, and activities for integration of the opera into academic subjects

Lussier Community Education center, $1445 for Art a la Carte, Walk through the Lussier Community Education Center and you will see children expressing themselves through various art forms including music, dance, painting and sculpting. The Art a la Carte program makes this possible by bringing education, resources and local artists to the youth in our Afterschool Programs and summer camps.

Madison Music Collective, $2890 for Jazz with class, The Madison Music Collective (MMC) will present “Jazz with Class”, the educational/hands-on element of the Isthmus Jazz Festival, consisting of music conversations, films, lectures and performances featuring local musicians plus the festival’s headliner, in the Play Circle of the UW-Madison Memorial Union on Friday and Saturday, June 19th and 20th, 2015.

The Village of Waunekee, $1980 for a series of summer outdoor concerts that are planned for The Village of Waunakee. The concerts will take place on Tuesday evenings for six consecutive weeks spanning between June and July, 2015. Bands will change weekly and represent different genres of music each week

North/Eastside Senior Coalition, $1760 for 21st Annual Summer Concert Series, Enjoy free, live music for the whole family at the 21st Annual Summer Concert Series at the Warner Park Shelter, 2930 N. Sherman Avenue on Monday evenings June 15,22,29and July 13,20,27 from 6-7:30 pm(Rain date is August 3). Bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on. Each week a local band plays either jazz, country, swing, big band, R&B, rock, bluegrass or Mexican music in this relaxed, intimate setting. More information at www.nescoinc.org.

Zion City Community Outreach Center, $3415 for Zion City Saturday Studio, Creative Communication Through the Arts is Key in the Twenty-first Century! Please support Zion City Saturday Studio as we develop and apply our talents, skills and leadership through visual, spoken, musical and movement arts to Call Forward a New Vision for the Future

Urban Community Arts Network, Ltd, $1990for, For the Love of Hip-Hop Urban Community Arts Network, Ltd. is hosting For the Love of Hip-Hop, a free, outdoor summer concert series featuring all local artists. The aim of this series is to create performance opportunities for Dane County Hip-Hop artists and to expose the community to the vibrant Hip-Hop culture in Dane County.

Dance

Li Chiao-Ping Dance , $2015, for Moving Words, Li Chiao-Ping Dance's MOVING WORDS concert continues the company's year-long celebration of its 20 Years of performance in Dane County. This special concert brings Artistic Director Li back to her roots, featuring such seminal works as Yellow River, the work that catapulted her onto the national/international stage.

Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, $4200, Six schools in the Madison district will host engaging residencies by outstanding local professional jazz teaching musicians in the Spring semester of the 2015-16 academic year. These schools will be chosen by the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium through a request-for-proposal process open to all of the District’s K-8 music teachers.

Dance Wisconsin, $1360 for Dance Wisconsin's New Works 2015, this will highlight the Bournonville style of ballet. Participants will learn about August Bournonville's contributions to dance. Bournonville's repertoire, background, and the Royal Danish Ballet will be presented. Local choreographers will premiere works October 10, 2015 at Mitby Theater, Madison, WI and January 24, 2016 Promenade Hall, Overture Center for the Arts.

North/Eastside Senior Coalition, $1760 for 21st Annual Summer Concert Series Enjoy free, live music for the whole family at the 21st Annual Summer Concert Series at the Warner Park Shelter, 2930 N. Sherman Avenue on Monday evenings June 15,22,29and July 13,20,27 from 6-7:30 pm(Rain date is August 3). Bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on. Each week a local band plays either jazz, country, swing, big band, R&B, rock, bluegrass or Mexican music in this relaxed, intimate setting. More information at www.nescoinc.org.

Urban Community Arts Network, Ltd, $1990 for, For the Love of Hip-Hop Urban Community Arts Network, Ltd. is hosting For the Love of Hip-Hop, a free, outdoor summer concert series featuring all local artists. The aim of this series is to create performance opportunities for Dane County Hip-Hop artists and to expose the community to the vibrant Hip-Hop culture in Dane County.

Multidisciplinary

Oregon Straw Hat Players, $1495 for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat, Oregon Straw Hat Players presents Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat, August 8-15, at the Oregon School District Performing Arts Center. The Biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors comes to vibrant life in this unique presentation of this delightful musical parable. (www.oshponline.org)

East Madison Community Center, $3410 for b-boy/B-girl dance program, Since 2008, EMCC has had b-boy/B-girl dance program where people gather twice a week to watch, learn, and coach others to learn difficult dance moves. There are also younger people's groups with instructors. The program is free and welcomes anyone who wants to dance.

Music

Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, $3,415, for Live Soundz on Saturday” This will cultivate the next generation of jazz musicians and fans by providing two 6-week ½-day sessions (Summer and Fall cycles) of jazz appreciation, instrumental instruction, ensemble formation, and performance opportunities for middle- and high-school-age youth at the Goodman Community Center.

Madison Symphony Orchestra, $2,800 for Up Close & Musical, Up Close & Musical is the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO)'s nationally-recognized education program that brings the MSO's Hunt Quartet to Kindergarten-3rd grade classrooms to present exciting and engaging lessons that get students hunting for the musical concepts of expression, melody, rhythm and form in beloved classical music repertoire.

Madison Youth Choirs, $2,700 for Madison Youth Choirs continues to helm an increasingly popular in-school choir program at Chavez, Lincoln, and Nuestro Mundo Elementary schools, and will expand to a fourth school in 2015. Devoting their recess time to rehearsals once a week, over 350 students will discover the thrill of singing in a choir for the first time

Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, $2,900 for "Guilty As Charged” BDDS combines musicians from around the country, varied repertoire, and delightful surprises creating "serious fun." In 12 concerts and three outreach events we'll show how our theme, "Guilty As Charged” will destroy the stuffy, starched-collar atmosphere of traditional chamber music concerts, inviting audiences to trespass on the creative process!

Madison Children's Museum, $2,500 for Funkyard Festivals, Madison Children’s Museum presents Funkyard Festivals, a series of free performances, artist residencies, and community art-making events in the museum’s new outdoor exhibit space, the Funkyard

Disability Pride Madison, $2,860 for the Disability Pride Festival, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ADA that granted civil rights to people with disabilities and celebrate the lives of all people with disabilities. Through art and performance, we will share the stories of our lives, breakdown and end internalized shame and stereotypes and build a stronger, more inclusive community.

Theatre

WI Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, $2015 for Logjam This features the work of Brenda Baker, Kevin Giese, and Mark Iwinski, three artists whose sculpture and prints inspire reflection on environmental restoration and the health of our forests. Through photographs, artifacts, and text, the exhibition will also consider the legacy of the Wisconsin clearcut, the rise of industrial forestry, and the development of more sustainable forest products.

Theatre LILA, $3250, for Trash, Every year Americans create over 250 million tons of trash -- and that's just what ends up in landfills. In 2015, Theatre LILA will use its signature style of theatrical invention to explore the detritus of our modern world.

Token Creek Festival, Inc.,$2290, for the Token Creek Festival this reaffirms its essential founding values of idealism, impracticality, and “non-summer” music, and continues several of the multi-year themes established early on, working towards completion of important cycles and bodies of works: Haydn piano trios, Bach Brandenburg concertos, a return to the Forum format, and continued exploration of Place.

Forward Theatre, $2275, for the Flick, Forward Theater presents the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner, “The Flick” by Annie Baker, at Overture January 28 – February 14, 2016. Three underpaid Movie Theater employees mop the floors and attend to one of the last 35 millimeter film projectors in this hilarious and heart-rending cry for authenticity in a fast-changing world.

Mount Horeb Area Arts Association, $900 for 9th Spring Art Tour, The Spring Art Tour is a three day, family friendly, open-art-studios event on the first weekend of June, which is free and showcases the art of approximately two dozen artists living and working within fifteen miles of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. The artists share their small town and rural studios with the public and generously demonstrate in a variety of media.

Madison Savoyards Ltd., $1250 for The Mikado, The Mikado is the most popular and well known of the 13 Gilbert & Sullivan Operas and was last performed by the Madison Savoyards in 2008.

Four Seasons Theatre, $3250 for Guys & Dolls,Four Seasons Theatre wraps up their 10th anniversary season with Guys & Dolls, a production that will showcase the work of Madison area theatre professionals - singers and actors, a talented production team, and a large orchestra of local musicians- in a weekend of performances at the Wisconsin Union Theater.

TAPIT/new works, $2100 for Work the Act, Celebrate TAPIT/new works 30th anniversary season with Work the Act, a comedy exploring the trials and tribulations of a traveling theater troupe. Performances will be combined with panel discussions on the cultural and economic context of contemporary arts work.

Capital

VSA Wisconsin, $2,955 for Interactive White Board for Artists with disabilities, VSA Wisconsin requests support to help purchase an interactive whiteboard which will allow individuals with disabilities to participate more fully in classes at the VSA Art Center. By using this technology, we can enhance independence, foster creativity and improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.

Capitol City Band Association, $2345 for office equipment, Capitol City Band, assisted by VFW Post 7591 Colorguard, gives tribute to Dane County veterans and veterans everywhere in two toe-tapping patriotic concerts - A Musical Tribute to the Troops Then and Now. July 2, 7 pm at Rennebohm Park, Madison. July 4, 10:30 am, Farmers Market on the Square at the So. Hamilton Street Walkway.

Artworking, $1,405 for Building Opportunity with the Madcity Bazaar, and beyond, Artworking is helping artists and entrepreneurs, who have cognitive disabilities, sell their products into the local arts and crafts market. In order to do this, Artwoking is sponsoring a booth at the upcoming Madcity Bazaar, as well a number of other community festivals and events.

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