$200,000 in arts-related stimulus funds to save 8 1/2 jobs
10/9/2009Sixteen northwest Ohio groups will share $200,000 in federal stimulus funding that will retain the equivalent of 8 1/2 arts-related jobs.
The largest recipient will be Lott Industries Inc., slated for $25,000 that will pay an artist to lead the Shared Lives Studio, a project that teaches adults who have developmental disabilities to make art that can be sold.
The money is part of $30 million disbursed by the National Endowment for the Arts and fed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Twenty-one grants were reviewed by a seven-member panel assembled by the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo and the Toledo Community Foundation.
Applicants had to prove that a job had been or was in danger of being eliminated because of the economy.
Funds will be sent in two parcels: Three-quarters of it will be mailed next week; the final quarter will be mailed in October, 2010, said Jennifer Jarrett, the arts commission's development coordinator. She noted that 84 musicians who will perform concerts at the Jazz in the Garden series in Toledo Botanical Garden will be affected.
Additional recipients are Toledo Opera Association ($20,000), Arts Partnership of Greater Hancock County ($20,000), Collingwood Arts Center ($18,000), Ritz Theatre ($15,800), Toledo Botanical Garden ($15,000), Toledo Museum of Art ($15,000), Toledo Repertoire Theatre ($10,000), Scrap4Art ($10,000), Toledo Ballet Association Inc. ($10,000), Springfield Schools Foundation ($8,200), Lima Symphony Orchestra ($8,000), Project ABC ($7,500), Sunshine Foundation Inc. ($7,500), Henry County Arts Council ($5,000), and Children's Theatre Workshop of Toledo ($5,000).
In addition, the arts commission, which applied for the original grant on behalf of northwest Ohio, will receive $26,000 to reinstate lost positions and $24,000 to administer and track the grants, Ms. Jarrett said.
Two other awards of federal stimulus money were channeled through the Ohio Arts Council and given to the Toledo Symphony ($25,000) and Masterworks Chorale ($10,000), bringing the total of stimulus money for the local arts to $285,000.
Contact Tahree Lane at:
tlane@theblade.com
or 419-724-6075.