June 11, 2008
Contact: Sondra Peron, 413-587-1269
Northampton Arts Council Announces Arts EZ Grant Award Winners
The Northampton Arts Council is pleased to announce the awarding of 29 Arts EZ Spring 2008 grants totaling $19,580 in support of a variety of projects. The caliber of applications this round was outstanding, and we were unable to fund many worthy projects. The Arts Council received 57 requests for funding over $103,000. These grants were awarded from a pool of funds raised by the Northampton Arts Council's Transperformance 17 (August 2007) and Four Sundays in February '08 series. These grants were awarded in the following categories: Dance, Film/Video, Literature, Mixed Media, Music, Schools, Theater and Visual Art.
DANCE
$350 to Ariel Cohen of slipperyfish dance for two consecutive evenings of performance at the Northampton Center for the Arts in September of 2008. The first night will feature traditional proscenium dance, including work choreographed on a large sculpture by Robert Markey.
$500 to the Pioneer Valley Ballet for a production of Beauty and the Beast, to be performed at the Academy of Music in April, 2009.
FILM/VIDEO
$200 to Martha Fleming-Ives for a project called “Urban Drive-In.” On Wednesday, July 16, 2008, she plans to show a double feature film outdoors, on the roof of the parking garage in downtown Northampton.
$1500 to Stephen St. Francis Decky for the production of a series of short stop-motion animated films featuring characters he created in paintings, photographs and comic books.
LITERATURE
$700 to Thomas Clark of the Florence Poet's Society for a poetry festival to be held in October 2008 at the Sanctuary at Look Park. The society's publication, Silkworm, will also be released at this outdoor celebration of poetry.
$300 to Susan Kan of Perugia Press for a project called “Ugly Truths,” a poetry craft panel discussion on poems that make art shocking or risky material.
MIXED MEDIA
$1000 to Andrew Huckins for production of Filmusik: The Superman Orchestra. A live film music project in which 1940's Superman animations, whose dialogue and sound effects have been rerecorded, will be shown accompanied by new scores written by 7 different composers and performed live by a 12 piece orchestra and voice actors.
$280 to Elizabeth MacDuffie of Meat for Tea magazine for a multi-cultural event marking it's third year publishing a wide range of art, literature, film and music.
$800 to Christian McEwen for a series of creative writing workshops, a presentation and discussion, all at the Forbes Library, September, 2008, inspired by her original film,”Tomboys! Feisty Girls and Spirited Women.”
$1350 to Ira McKinley for the production of a documentary about a homeless artist showcase happening June 21, 2008 called “I Hear Music in the Street.”
MUSIC
$1000 to Peter Blanchette for the founding season of Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra. The Northampton-based ensemble of 8-60 amateur and professional musicians will perform five concerts between October of 2008 and June of 2009.
$500 to Constance Clark of the Pioneer Valley Symphony and Chorus to perform a live symphonic music at the Academy of Music Theater on September 20, 2008.
$1000 to Dave DelloRusso of Primate Fiasco for a project called “Blow Up Northampton.” A series of free performances in Northampton with special guest bands form the Northeast.
$1000 to Sarah Manning of Shatter the Glass for performances in September of jazz quartet as art exhibit in storefront window display at new APE Gallery.
$200 to Pat McDonagh of Pioneer Valley Cappella for performances of American songs by a group better known for it renaissance and baroque concerts. Look for performance in May of 2009 as part of series at the Unitarian Society.
$500 for Glenn Seigel to present Fred Van Hove in a solo piano concert at the Center for the Arts Northampton October 23, 2008.
$500 to Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra for a series of Northampton concerts in September, October and December, 2008.
SCHOOLS
$375 to JFK Middle School for a day-long project of music workshops and concerts for 7th graders by Alpha Music Ensemble, a group specializing in music of the Balkans, Greece and the Middle East.
THEATER
$500 to Sam Rush of New Century Theater for its production of “Rabbit Hole” by David Lindsay-Abaire to be performed as part of a series of dramatic works presented this summer.
VISUAL ARTS
$350 to Anna Bayles Arthur for exhibition of paintings at the Hosmer Gallery in November of 2008.
$900 to Madison J. Cripps for “The Cripps Walking Theatre Project,” a mobile puppet theatre show to be presented August 16 and 17, 2008.
$700 to Karen Dolmanisth for an exhibition a Pivot Media in October 2008 called “PRESENT/Four Seasons/ Then, Now, Here / MayBe.
$900 to Karen Golding-Staelin of Friends of Hampshire County Homeless for “Happy Frog,” a sculpure by Lu Stubbs that will be cast in bronze, placed in front of First Churn and serve as a community piggybank into which donations can be deposited by visitors to downtown Northampton.
$500 to Gene Kane for Northampton Characters: A Cartoon Portfolio to be displayed at APE and viewed and purchased as playing cards depicting the people of Northampton.
$500 Ariela Kuh and Benjamin Bois for a project called “Babel” to be exhibited at APE Gallery in August of 2008.
$1000 to Mia Nacamulli for a project called “Still and Alive,” a series of multi-dimensional portraits of Northampton's characters in their surroundings to be shown in storefronts and public spaces in May, 2009.
$1275 to Pamela Petro for “Faces of Nature,” photographs printed on stone. Photo-portraits will be created this summer, the installation this fall, and the resulting artwork will be shown on Main Street window of FACES in the spring of 2009.
$400 to Pam Roberts for One in Eight: The Torso Project, a collaborative art installation that addresses emotional impact of breast cancer on individuals, families, and the larger community, while educating people about the incidence of the disease.
$500 to Lisa Thompson of APE in support of SALON 08/09, a collaborative three-part salon series in conjunction with three exhibitions at Wunderarts in Amherst, APE Gallery in Northampton and University Gallery at UMASS. Sally Curcio, Jeff Vespa, Ali Osborn, Raphael Griswold, Edward O'Connor and Sheron Rupp are all participating artists, with Art critic Gloria Russell.
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