State arts panel gives $620,416 to area groups

8/3/2001

Nineteen Toledo arts organizations were given a total of $620,416 in grants this week, part of the Ohio Arts Council's first round of grants for the 2002 fiscal year, which began July 1.

Toledo Museum of Art topped the list with a $251,344 grant to help it meet operating expenses. The Toledo Orchestra Association received a $135,601 for its operation costs and “audience diversity planning.”

Other recipients ranged from Arts Council Lake Erie West's $22,580 “Positively Arts” program, to Jones Junior High's $1,200 two-week visiting artist residency.

Other area communities and the grants they received were:

  • Bowling Green: three grants, totaling $26,049.

  • Findlay: three grants, $32,287.

  • Fostoria: St. Wendelin High School, $1,800 for arts residency.

  • Holgate: Local school, $900 for creative writing program.

  • Lima: four grants, $57,125.

  • Mansfield: four grants, $92,679.

  • Napoleon: three grants, $19,866.

  • Oregon: City schools, $11,160 for basic arts education.

  • Perrysburg: $900 for two-week art residency at Fort Meigs Elementary School.

  • Sandusky: one grant, $1,350.

  • Sylvania: Franciscan Center's Performing Arts on Tour, $17,588.

  • Wauseon: Voces Unidas de Fulton County, $1,136 for a cultural festival.

    Governor Taft last month approved the state arts council's $31.2 million budget for the fiscal year - that's a 4.45 per cent cut off last year's $32.7 million tab.

    The council board then approved its first round of grants for the new fiscal year, earmarking a total of $10.4 million for 473 Ohio artists, schools, and organizations.

    The money underwrites arts organizations that produce dance, design, literature, music, film, theater, and traditional art forms as well as community arts programs and public art.

    The grants also support arts residency programs in schools, artists who need funding to complete ongoing projects, touring arts groups, and existing arts organizations that want to reach out to minority or ethnic audiences.

    Other Ohio cities did as well, or better than, Toledo.

    In Cincinnati, 50 applicants were funded, for $1,889,461. The Taft Museum of Art received $70,000; the Cincinnati Art Museum, $201,000. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra was given $569,500.

    In Cleveland, 61 applicants were funded, for $2,892,984 total. The symphony received no state funds, but the Cleveland Museum of Art received $569,748.

    In Columbus, home to the Ohio Arts Council, 69 applicants were funded, for $1,623,655 total. The Columbus Museum of Art received $169,000; the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, $199,000.

    In Dayton, 33 applications were funded, for a total of $916,247. Its philharmonic orchestra received $99,903; its Dayton Art Institute, $200,100.

    Akron arts groups were given 15 grants totaling $287,950. The city's art museum was given $63,944.

    Youngstown fielded nine successful applicants, and received $202,104. Its nationally noted Butler Museum of American Art received $75,492.

    Toledo-sized cities apply less frequently, and thus receive fewer grants, Jami Goldstein, an arts council spokeswoman, said.

    “It takes a while to learn the process, and smaller groups sometimes are run by volunteers who don't have the time or skills to navigate our application process,” she said. “The application is fairly complicated. We ask for a lot of information. It's a way for an organization to prove it can handle the projects it's taking on.”

    Organizations that receive arts council funds must match them with additional public and private dollars, Ms. Goldstein said. In July, the arts council board reviewed 536 grants from groups and individuals from throughout the state. It awarded 473 of them.