“Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs awards $2.27 million - MLive.com” plus 1 more |
| Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs awards $2.27 million - MLive.com Posted: 21 Jan 2011 01:56 PM PST Published: Friday, January 21, 2011, 3:57 PM Updated: Friday, January 21, 2011, 4:56 PMGRAND RAPIDS – The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs awarded more than $2.27 million in grants today for arts and culture in Michigan in 2011. Money awarded to individual groups, about $1.44 million, is close to the $1.5 million handed out last March for operations and projects. Another $821,000 was handed out to regrant as mini grants as well as for administrative services. In Kent and Ottawa counties,18 grants were given to individual institutions, topping 13 last year. The largest awards were $15,000 each to the Grand Rapids Public Museum, the Grand Rapids Symphony and John Ball Zoo, all three of which were bumped up from $11,200 last year. Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park also was awarded $15,000, same as last year. Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts was granted $10,000, more than the $7,500 it was handed last year. Neither Circle Theatre nor Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities were funded last year, but both were granted $7,500. St. Cecilia Music Center, which did not get state support last year, received $5,600. Awards to 220 organizations in 41 Michigan counties for operations and project support were determined in part by organization's budget and capped at a maximum of $20,000. "Of course the economy has been difficult on everyone, including arts and cultural businesses," said Nheena Ittner, chairwoman of the 14-member, gubernatorial-appointed board. "But with the true entrepreneurial spirit that so closely defines arts and culture, their non-profit business model remains strong and vitally important to the economic health of our state." "We're proud to be a small part of their success," said Ittner, of Marquette. In counties surrounding Grand Rapids, 10 grants amounting to $80,800 were awarded in Allegan and Barry and Muskegon counties. In Kent County, the Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids was awarded a total of $44,600 including $28,100 to regrant. In Ottawa County, the Holland Area Arts Council also was given three grants totaling $30,900 including $17,700 to regrant. The Holland Chorale and Holland Symphony Orchestra each were awarded $7,500. MCACA will award grants in its Bus Grants Program and New Leaders Program at a later date for 2011. Last year, the state agency gave a total of $2.1 million for all of 2010, just over 70 percent less than the $7.9 million awarded in 2009. Money awarded today is less than 10 percent of the $25.6 million funded by the council 10 years ago in 2001. E-mail Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk: jkaczmarczyk@grpress.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Posted: 21 Jan 2011 02:31 PM PST Published: Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 3:36 p.m. MST LOS ANGELES — At a Passover Seder years ago, Harold Grinspoon noticed with surprise that the younger attendees were absorbed in holiday children's books. A dinner that's as much about reading as eating, Passover can sometimes be a bit tedious for young children. But instead of being listless, these children, Grinspoon saw, were deeply engaged in books given to them by the hostess and asking their parents to read aloud parts of the story about the liberation of the Israelites from slavery. The scene inspired Grinspoon, an 81-year-old real estate developer turned philanthropist, to begin a literacy program modeled after the Imagination Library, the program started by singer Dolly Parton, but through a Jewish prism. The books help Jewish children learn about their religious and cultural identity. The program, called the PJ Library (a reference to the pajamas young participants may wear while perusing their books), began by sending 500 books to families in western Massachusetts. Five years later, the program each month sends Jewish-themed bedtime stories, targeted at children ages 6 months to 8 years, to 65,000 families across the United States and Canada. Next month, the number of member families is expected to reach almost 70,000. The PJ Library is a partnership between the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and local Jewish centers. They share the cost of sending the books, which are free to families. "I asked myself ... are the Jewish people in America in trouble? Are the Jewish people in America being demographically challenged?" Grinspoon said during a recent visit to Los Angeles. "I see a crisis in the Jewish world, the Jewish American world." At a time when many Jews marry outside the faith and a significant percentage choose not to raise their children Jewish, Grinspoon said he felt the Jewish identity was being diluted. He saw a way to reach children at a young age through Jewish-themed stories and positive memories of bedtime reading. Sharon Litwak, a Tarzana mother, has enrolled her three children in the program, which she said exposes them to books they couldn't find in the local library or neighborhood bookstore. "We're in a Jewish school and we keep our Jewish faith, but it definitely helps to bring new ideas into the house, like new ideas of what you can do during Shabbat," said Litwak, whose kids range in age from 2 to 7. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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