The Northampton Arts Council is pleased to announce the awarding of 23 Arts EZ Spring 2009 grants totaling $15,000 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 37 requests for funding over $55,000. These grants were awarded from a pool of funds raised by the Northampton Arts Council’s Transperformance 18 (August 2008) and Four Sundays in February ’09 series. These grants were awarded in the following categories: Dance, Film/Video, Literature, Mixed Media, Music, Theater and Visual Art.

DANCE

$500 to the Pioneer Valley Ballet for a production of Alladin to be performed at the Academy of Music in April 2010.

FILM/VIDEO

$600 to Ben Balcom for a project called “We Are The Multitudes,” an experimental short film to be screened at the Pleasant Street Theater’s “Emerging Filmmaker Showcase” September 2, 2009.

$750 to Aaron Fradkin for a short film called “The Scenic Route.” This film will employ Northampton High School students who will learn more about the art of filmmaking. A screening will be held at the Media Education Foundation August 1, 2009.

$500 to Bassam Kurdali for a 3-D animation film called “Tube.”

LITERATURE

$350 to James Cahillane for a project called the “Northampton History Poetry Book, which will examine Northampton’s 300th /tercentennial celebrations.

$750 to Leslea Newman for “Hear a Poet, There a Poet: An Anthology of Pioneer Valley Poets.” This collection of poems previously appeared in her bi-weekly column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette as part of her role as poet laureate of Northampton.

$750 to the Florence Poetry Society for the publication of Silkworm 4 and an outdoor poetry festival October 4, 2009 in Look Park.

MIXED MEDIA

$750 to the Academy of Music Theater for a free Lunch Box Series that will run through the Fall of 2009 and the Spring of 2010 on Wednesdays at 12:30pm for one half-hour, allowing those who live and work in Northampton to enjoy a short concert or reading.

$300 to Elizabeth MacDuffie of Meat for Tea magazine for a multi-cultural event “The Meat of the Matter.” Four events will coincide with the release of the publication.

$750 to Ira McKinley for a summer concert series, every Friday afternoon in Pulaski Park featuring local artists and musicians.

$800 to Commonwealth Center for Change for “The Kirkland Avenue Project.” It will include a series of public art events, workshops, performances, and murals designed to transform an alleyway from a garbage-strewn, graffiti eyesore into a vibrant space.

MUSIC

$1125 to Peter Blanchette for a complete musical score to Buster Keaton’s 1928 silent film “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” He will perform it live at the Pleasant Street Theater October 8, 2009.

$400 to Kiernan Lally for “I hope Albert is Right About the Future,” an ode to avant-guard American musician Albert Ayler.

$975 to the Florence Civic and Business Association for “Concerts on the Porch.” This summer music series will take place every Thursday in June, July, and August on the porch at the Florence Civic Center on Meadow Street in Florence. Concerts run from 6:30pm to 8pm.

$500 to Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra, in their 20th year, for a series of Northampton concerts in December 2009 and in January and June of 2010.

THEATER

$750 to Ann Maggs for “Modjeska’s Voice: The Actress Returns to the Academy.” Magg’s will perform a play she has written with Walter Carroll, about the Polish Shakespearean actress Helena Modjeak who performed back to the Academy stage where she starred in 1894, 1899, and 1900.

VISUAL ARTS

$600 to Sara Blaylock and Rachel Glaser for the “Giant Sale,” an exhibition that will transform A.P.E. into a high art/low discount market during the Sidewalk Sale Days in July 2009.

$375 to Peter Dellert for an exhibition of new collage works at the Northampton Center for the Arts. In addition, there will be two collage workshops, one for children and one for adults.

$700 to Raphael Griswold for a limited edition exhibition catalog documenting a show of young Northampton artists, scheduled for August 2009 at A.P.E. gallery.

$500 to Julia Handschuh for an exhibition of new sculptural works made of porcelain and paper at the Northampton Center for the Arts in January 2010.

$1000 to Mat Matera for an exhibition of paintings and a one-day free portrait drawings session at the Hosmer Gallery, Forbes Library in July 2009.

$750 to Barbara Neulinger for a group show of four painters working in contemporary abstract modes at A.P.E. in November, 2009.

$600 to Amy Stamm at the Hampshire Sherriff’s Office for project aimed to bring experiential art history knowledge to a school for adults incarcerated at the Hampshire County Jail.

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