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click here for pdf listing of grant awards, Oct. 2005 - Mar. 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- November 28, 2005
Contact: Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer
(517) 372-7770 -- shirko [at] mihumanities.org

$30,443 AWARDED FOR ARTS & CULTURE PROGRAMS

The Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings In Farmington Hills on December 12;
Eisenhower Dance Ensemble In Roscommon on March 3; Marie Papciak In Charlotte on March 7

(LANSING)-----The Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) has awarded $30,443 in Arts and Humanities Touring Program grants to Michigan organizations in support of 123 live artistic and cultural presentations between October 1, 2005, and March 31, 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. The Michigan Humanities Council administers Michigan’s Arts and Humanities Touring Program in partnership with MCACA.

“These grants to support Arts and Humanities Touring Programs will help bring arts and humanities to the public -- as an important piece of children’s education and by adding balance to all of our lives,” stated Jan Fedewa, executive director of the Michigan Humanities Council.

Examples of the variety of programs most recently funded by Michigan’s Arts & Humanities Touring Program include: the Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings to perform “Holiday Brass,” at the Farmington Players Barn Theatre in Farmington Hills on December 12; interactive family cultural programs throughout downtown Kalamazoo as part of the city’s New Years Eve Fest on December 31; the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble to perform “Kids ‘N’ Motion” at the Kirtland Community College Performing Arts Center in Roscommon on March 3; and, Marie Papciak to perform “Women Who Changed America” at the Courthouse Square Museum, in Charlotte on March 7.

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 2003-2006 Arts & Humanities Touring Directory is available from the Council. 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.

Applications for the next round of grants for Michigan’s Arts and Humanities Touring Program will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis from February 15, 2006, to March 15, 2006. Touring Program Director Phyllis Rathbun reminds applicants to complete the entire application and include required attachments before submitting it by the March 15 closing date.

Organizations interested in applying for a grant to help bring presenters to their community or school may request a Touring Directory from the Michigan Humanities Council via email at contact [at] mihumanities.org or by calling 517-372-7770. The Directory is also available on-line at michiganhumanities.org/touring/2003_2006. The grant application and guidelines are included in the printed 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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