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click here for pdf listing of grant awards, Apr 2006 - Sep 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- April 24, 2006
Contact: Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer
(517) 372-7770 -- shirko [at] mihumanities.org

$36,847 AWARDED FOR ARTS & CULTURE PROGRAMS

Eaton Rapids Dam Festival June 24-29, Kalamazoo Symphony at Gull Lake Rotary Club, Marcus Belgrave at Kirtland Center in Roscommon, Peter Sparling Dance at Detroit YMCA

(LANSING)-----The Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) has awarded $36,847 in Arts and Humanities Touring Program grants to Michigan organizations in support of 146 live artistic and cultural presentations between April 1, 2006, and September 30, 2006. The touring program, funded by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), consists of a wide variety of cultural programs from school assembly musical performances to library storytellers. MHC administers Michigan’s Arts and Humanities Touring Program in partnership with MCACA.

“These grants bring the arts and humanities to the public. Michigan’s Arts and Humanities Touring Programs provide a unique opportunity for arts and culture to add balance to all of our lives,” stated Jan Fedewa, MHC executive director.

Examples of the variety of programs most recently funded by Michigan’s Arts & Humanities Touring Program include:

• the Peter Sparling Dance company residence, rehearsals, workshops, and performances at the Boll Family YMCA in Detroit from April 26 through May 6;
• Gemini to perform seven musical programs at the Chebyogan Opera House from May 9-11;
• Marcus Belgrave to perform his internationally famous “Louis Armstrong Tradition” Kirtland Center for the Performing Arts in Roscommon on June 3;
• historical interpretations of Mary Todd Lincoln and Harriet Tubman, Native American dancing by Reg Pettibone and troubadour Neil Woodward at the Eaton Rapids Dam Festival from June 24-29;
• the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra performing at the Sherman Lake YMCA in Richland on July 12;
• a variety of musicians performing at a summer concert series, “There’s Music in the Air 2006” at the Village Green gazebo in Troy each Sunday from July 16 through August 13.

A complete listing of touring program events is available in pdf format.

Touring program grants support live presenters – musicians, storytellers, theater companies, speakers, and dancers – and visual arts programs from the 2003-2006 Arts & Humanities Touring Directory. The programs are hosted and sponsored by community schools, libraries, museums, festivals, art councils, and other nonprofit organizations. Grants fall into two categories: those providing up to $250 for programs whose fees and expenses are $725 or less; and, larger grants up to 35 percent of fees and expenses when program costs exceed $725. The program will reach 32 counties in Michigan, including 16 counties considered “underserved” by MCACA, counties deemed to have areas in which residents have limited access to arts and cultural programs, services, or resources primarily because of location, economic condition, and/or cultural background.

ARTS & HUMANITIES SHOWCASE: September 16, 2006 in Marshall
A new edition of Michigan’s Arts and Humanities Touring Directory is currently in production and will be available on-line, with limited copies in print also available by August for $5 each. On September 16, at Marshall High School, MHC will host a “Showcase” event featuring on stage some of Michigan’s best performers to be accepted into the directory. In addition, up to 60 booths will be available for many other presenters in the new directory.

The 2006 Arts and Humanities Showcase is the public’s primary opportunity to watch and talk to performers from the new 2006-2009 edition of Michigan’s Arts & Humanities Touring Directory. The directory, a joint project of MHC and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, is being sponsored by LaSalle Bank. Registration information for the event will be available in summer 2006.

NEXT GRANT APPLICATION PERIOD
The next round of grants for Michigan’s Arts and Humanities Touring Program will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis from August 25, 2006, to September 10, 2006. The grants awarded will be from the new 2006-2009 directory available by early August. Organizations interested in applying for a grant to help bring presenters to their community or school may access a Touring Directory from the Michigan Humanities Council website, michiganhumanities.org, or by calling 517-372-7770. Printed copies of the directory will be available in August for $5 each to cover mailing and handling. The grant application and guidelines will be included in the new directory and on the website.

The Michigan Humanities Council, founded in 1974, is the state’s independent, non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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