NOVEMBER 15, 2000 - The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), an agency within the Michigan Department of Consumer and Industry Services (CIS), announces today that families living in the state’s rural communities will find quality arts and cultural programming closer to home thanks to state and federal grants.

MCACA is awarding $185,000 in state arts and cultural funding for projects in 16 Michigan rural counties. Furthermore, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently allocated an additional $40,000 "Challenge America" federal grant to MCACA to enhance future funding opportunities in previously underserved communities.

CIS Director Kathleen Wilbur said today’s rural arts grant announcement reflects the Council’s strong commitment to providing quality programs and services in all of Michigan’s 83 counties and is made possible by the recent 19 percent increase in arts funding approved by Governor John Engler and the legislature in this year’s budget. She added the NEA grant is also an acknowledgment of the merits of the new ideas coming from Michigan and the state’s leadership in making quality arts and cultural programming available throughout the state to help strengthen families and communities.

"Less than 12 months ago, the Council established the Rural Arts and Culture Program, in partnership with Michigan State University Museum and the Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies, to build organizational capacity and enhance arts and cultural offerings in 39 rural counties throughout the state," said Wilbur. "Today, the program is already successfully reaching more than 75 percent of those counties and stimulating the development of new collaborations and partnerships in many of the state’s smallest towns to improve the quality of community arts and cultural life. "

With two grant rounds completed, the Rural Arts and Culture Program has received grant requests from 29 of the 39 counties eligible for the program. Eligible rural counties were determined based on demographics and MCACA funding assessments. All grant applications were evaluated through a peer-panel review process that culminated with recommendations made to the Executive Committee of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

"The Rural Arts and Culture Program is more than just a grants program. In addition to providing funding, we are

also offering workshops, consultants and a broad range of technical assistance to organizations in the targeted counties to ensure the future viability of these efforts beyond the grant year," said MCACA Chairman Eugene A. Gargaro, Jr. "We are going the extra mile with this program by tackling some of the tough issues which prohibit access and participation in arts and culture in our state, ensuring adequate funding of quality projects, and offering unsuccessful applicants an opportunity to improve their proposals for immediate funding reconsideration."

The $185,000 in state grants is for fiscal year 2001 that starts October 1, 2000 and ends September 30, 2001. These grants require matching funds from other public and private sources. For further information about the MCACA Rural Arts and Culture Program, contact Julie Avery, Program Coordinator, Michigan State University Museum, at 517.432.3358.

The $40,000 "Challenge America" grant is the result of a major National Endowment for the Arts program funded by Congress for Fiscal Year 2001 for arts education and public outreach activities.

MCACA RURAL ARTS & CULTURAL AFFAIRS GRANT RECIPIENTS

Thornapple Arts Council

$10,000

Barry County

"Art Information Quest Program"

This program would assist the community to access area artists and create a network for artists to connect. The program will consist of collecting detailed information about artists in Barry County and surrounding areas. The information will be put into a database and a web page will be created.

Michigan Legacy Art Park

$9,670

Benzie County

"Looking to Learn – Links Project At Discovery Grove"

This project marks the culmination of over 5 years of work development collaborative programming between the Michigan Legacy Art Park and the citizens of Benzie County. When completed, the Links Project will facilitate an eight month program that includes: 1)Artist Residencies, 2)Community Collaboration, 3)Exhibition, 4)Documentation and Cataloguing, 5)Dramatic Performances, and 6)Arts Education.

Tibbits Opera Foundation

$10,000

Branch County

"Arts Enrichment Program"

This project will provide exposure to the arts and offer supplementary instruction and involvement in the arts for young people. Professional theater productions will expose students to high quality performances, a talkback session will allow students to meet theater professionals and discuss a production. Workshops will provide arts instruction and a juried art show will provide feedback for high school artists. A musical theater production will allow children to be involved in all aspects of theater.

Community Performing Arts Center

$9,140

Dickinson County

"One Community Through the Arts"

Two local artists, working in subject matter influenced by the natural surroundings of the area, will provide a series of hands-on mini workshops in woodcarving and watercolor to 9-12 grade students. Frame theater classes will also be presented to area grade school students grades k-8.

Keweenaw Krayons

$10,000

Keweenaw County

"Traditions Alive 2001"

Keweenaw Traditions Alive 2001 seeks to grow and stabilize our community arts programming through a three-tiered project exploring the rich traditions of our beautiful peninsula. The activities include four community concerts and activities, an 1870s Heritage Festival, multi-disciplinary programming through the creation of a Young Historians’ Group, and a summer series of traditional arts explorations and museum adventures.

Glen Arbor Art Association

$5,888

Leelanau County

"Migrant Youth Art Project"

The Migrant Youth Art Project is a multi-media arts education workshop series for students developed by the Glen Arbor Art Assn. and Northwestern Michigan Migrant Education Projects for summer 2001. The program will begin with an oral history presentation by members of an earlier generation of migrants who’ve settled out and become year-round residents in the area, with the belief that such historical perspectives will give students an opportunity to evaluate their experiences with a sense of continuity and invaluable foresight. A float will be a project students will design and ride while participating in the National Cherry Festival and Heritage Parades.

Mecosta County Council for the Arts

$10,000

Mecosta County

(Artworks) "Artworks for All"

Artworks will serve as an arts center for the community: adults, teens, children, and special populations including senior citizens, developmentally disabled and disenfranchised youth. Local artists will provide instruction. Artworks will also serve as a catalyst for arts and humanities activities throughout a three-county area.

Menominee County Fair Association

$10,000

Menominee County

"Barns, Barns, Celebrate Barns"

Presenters will work with students in school districts across Menominee County to initiative a series of "barn projects" which the youth themselves will create. The projects will look into the early history of the county, long known, as the "Dairy Capital" of the Upper Peninsula. High school students, under the professional guidance of a muralist experienced in working with youth, will paint images of Menominee County’s past and present on the end of a vintage wooden barn. Students will also create a six-foot replica of the barn mural to be displayed at various events. Middle school students will interview relatives and senior citizens to complete writing projects about barn animals, barn dances, or barn experiences in their family histories. Elementary children will paint their own designs on small foam-board cutouts.

Monroe County Library System

$5,800

Monroe County

"Monroe County’s 14^th Annual Black History Month Blues Series"

The Monroe County Library System will partner with a diverse coalition of community groups to produce Monroe County’s 14^th Annual Black History Month Blues Series, a month-long celebration of Black History Month, the rich cultural contributions of African Americans, community spirit, and the blues, "the roots of all American music."

Newaygo County Council for the Arts

$4,900

Newaygo County

"Expanded Visions"

Expanded Visions is a program designed to teach at-risk youth how to use a camera to creatively express themselves, photograph what is important in their lives, and to keep a journal describing this journey. It is anticipated this program will help develop self-esteem as the youngsters gain a skill and have their efforts recognized through an exhibit.

Oceana ISD

$8,000

Oceana County

"Oceana Summer Youth Theater"

This is a continuation with the process of establishing a permanent youth theater company in Oceana County. This collaborative project includes Hart, Shelby, and Walkerville school districts, and the Oceana County ISD, and will grow to include two more public schools and all of the children in Oceana County. During 2000-2001 the development of a community-wide support group and planning for the 2001 production will take place.

Evart Downtown Development Authority

$10,000

Osceola County

"2001 Downtown Evart Musicale"

The proposed 2001 Downtown Evart Summer Musicale series is a summer-long program that attempts to bring a multitude of culturally diverse music and educational arts opportunities to the city of Evart. The opportunities will be realized through a series of 13 concerts. Five workshops and one Native American visual arts display will be included in the concert series.

Friends of Steiner’s Museum

$5,000

Oscoda County

"Comins Historical Park"

The opportunity to develop a Historical Park in Comins, inspired cooperation among three local arts and culture groups to agree to research and memorialize Ferdinand Stutesman, a significant figure in local history. The tangible products include a bronze bust and historical plaque for permanent outdoor display in the park, an exhibition on Mr. Stutesman and his role in local history at Steiner Museum, publication of an article about Mr. Stutesman in the Wilderness Chronicle, television broadcast of the project on Michigan Magazine and a video of the project and artistic process to create the bust.

Farmhouse Music Organization

$10,000

Otsego County

"A Centennial Celebration of Farmhouse Life"

A Centennial Celebration of Farmhouse Life will bring alive the traditional arts through performances, demonstrations and hands-on workshops at the 100-year old Farmhouse site in Johannesburg. Students, educators, community members and music lovers will participate in the lives of the original inhabitants through Michigan in song, Homestead archeology, Pioneer dancing, Native American drumming, dancing, storytelling and arts, Tales of the early pioneer days, Nature walks, Old-time blues and Farmhouse foods.

Gaylord Area Council for the Arts

$4,000

Otsego County

"Otsego County Community Threads Summer Arts Camp"

The camp would be a second year of a one week summer arts camp for 40 Otsego County youth. Participants will explore various art forms of their choice, including dance, theater, visual arts, photography/video, creative writing and music. All activities will be linked to a study and greater understanding of how the Otsego County area relates to the world community as a whole. The products of a camp participants will be presented at the county fair in August, 2001.

Cadillac Area Council for the Arts

$3,200

Wexford County

"Cadillac Festival of the Arts"

The Cadillac Arts Festival uses local and professional artists to provide the community with the opportunity to experience a variety of live art forms that are both entertaining and educational. Included are jazz, symphony, choral presentations, dance, mime, band and children’s hands-on visual arts activities. Artists include Marcus Belgrave, Opus Mime, Mason Dixie Band, Cadillac Symphony, and Jive at Five.

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