The Lane County Cultural Coalition awards Cultural Opportunity Grants in the areas of arts, heritage and humanities with the goal of increasing cultural accessibility, awareness, and education throughout Lane County. Cultural Opportunity Grants are funded by the Oregon Cultural Trust.
In 2017, the Lane County Cultural Coalition awarded $39,000 to 19 cultural projects in Lane County:
Opal Center for Arts and Education
Got Rhythm? Cultural Music Series
$500
The Opal Center for Arts and Education and Music Money are collaborating to create and host a series of culturally diverse music concerts in Cottage Grove on the second Thursday of the month for five months in 2017. The grant funding will be used to advertise the event.
Springfield Education Foundation
Orgelkids: Introducing the Pipe Organ to Kids by Letting Them Build One!
$2,500
The project lets kids build a working pipe organ in the classroom and also includes opportunities to hear the pipe organ in concert.
SMART
SMART – Multicultural Books for SMART Students
$1,000
SMART builds literacy in Oregon by engaging volunteers to read one-on-one with Pre K through third grade children and by giving new books to children. This funding will increase children’s access to books representing diverse cultural experiences by purchasing additional culturally-relevant literature to include in SMART’s give-away books.
Oregon Oldtime Fiddlers’ Association
West Cascades Fiddle Camp and Workshops
$2,300
The West Cascade Fiddle Camp is an opportunity for anyone ages 7 and older to play and learn about string instruments, including fiddle, banjo, guitar, upright bass, mandolin, and ukulele.
Applegate Regional Theatre Inc (Art Inc)
ART Inc 2017 Theatrical Season Publicity
$1,650
The grant will fund advertising for ART Inc’s 2017 theatrical season.
Oregon Supported Living Program, Arts & Culture Program
Arts and Culture Mentorship Program
$2,000
Oregon Support Living Program Arts & Culture Program’s mission is to break down barriers to participation in the arts for people of all abilities and to build bridges to a more diverse and inclusive community. The grant helps fund a mentorship program which facilitates in-depth arts instruction through individualized mentorships in which student artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities are paired with local professionals in our community for one-on-one artistic development.
Florence Regional Arts Alliance
2nd Annual Big Wave Poetry Festival
$1,500
Funding will be used to help expand the Big Wave Poetry Festival into a two day event for its second year. The event will include presentations by well-known poets, workshops, open mike events, and a youth contest.
Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene
Businesses Benefiting from the Arts Awareness Campaign
$2,500
The Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene will produce two videos featuring local companies meeting specific business needs by either incorporating elements of the artistic process in their operations or leveraging Eugene’s arts community. The goal is to increase business support for Eugene’s cultural arts sector.
CROW (Children’s Repertory of OR Workshops)
The Addams Family Musical – Children’s Theatre So Good, It’s Scary
$2,500
CROW will audition, rehearse, and mount a mainstage youth musical entitled “The Addams Family: A New Musical” from April 21-23rd at the Florence Events Center, which includes four public performances and two free school outreach shows.
New Mime Circus dba Fools Haven
Discount Ticket Voucher Program for Performances of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
$2,100
Fools Haven is the new Resident Theater Company at the Wildish Theatre in Springfield. The grant will be used for the Discounted Ticket Voucher Program to provide access to community members, especially students and their guardians who could not otherwise afford to attend the theater, in the form of reduced-price ticket vouchers.
West African Cultural Arts Institute
African Cultural Arts After School Program at Prairie Mountain School
$2,000
West African Cultural Arts Institute will partner with Prairie Mountain School to offer an arts education program focusing on the cultural arts from Guinea, West Africa to students grades K-8.
Vivace Violin Studio
Springfield String Music Education Project
$2,050
The Springfield Strings Music Education Project will bring specialized string instruction to Hamlin Middle School and Springfield High School students.
Willamette Jazz Society
Advancing Music Education for High School Students with In-School Clinics and by Focusing and Building Upon the Sunday Learners Jam
$2,400
This grant will support the musical developments of high school musicians through engagement with experienced jazz artists and music educators.
Free Shakespeare in the Park
Free Shakespeare in the Park presents Henry V
$2,500
Free Shakespeare in the Park will produce and present eight fully staged public performances of William Shakespeare’s play Henry V at Amazon Community Center. All performances are family friendly and open to the public.
DanceAbility International (DBA Joint Forces Dance Co)
DanceAbility Accessible Performances
$2,500
DanceAbility International will create new choreography that includes two performers with disabilities and two without, with accompanying promotional material. The new, perspective changing performances will bring the message of the beauty of diversity to audiences all around Lane County.
The John G Shedd Institute for the Arts
Unforgettable – Sing-alongs in Memory Care Facilities
$2,000
“Unforgettable” is The Shedd Institute’s 3-year-old award-winning program that provides weekly, high participatory, sing-alongs in area residential memory care facilities.
Eugene Taiko
Protect Our Community’s Traditional Japanese Drums
$2,000
Eugene Taiko will purchase protective cases for eight drums which form the core of the group’s presentations and performances throughout Lane County.
The Rural Art Center
Artist in Residence for the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District: Zimbabwe
$2,500
Each year the Rural Art Center, through the Artist in Residence program, provides professional art instruction to the students of the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District, which is not otherwise available due to budget considerations. This year, the curriculum for the K-12 students will focus on the richness of Zimbabwean art and culture.
Oregon Mozart Players
Expansion of Youth Ticket Access Program
$2,500
This grant will help Oregon Mozart Players expand their Youth Ticket Access Program, which allows any student (through college) to attend their concerts for only $10.
