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database of all grant recipients and newly or re-designated
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grant recipients, please contact Jeff Morgan.
$2.1 million art, film and
history grants awarded to Iowans
Iowa Great Places and Cultural & Entertainment
Districts designated
DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs today announced
it has awarded more than $2.1 million in grants for art, film, history and
culture. The state agency also designated or re-designated 22 communities
as Iowa Great Places or Cultural and Entertainment Districts.
“Iowa is becoming known as
a culturally vibrant state with world-class arts and cultural offerings,
where engaging experiences revitalize communities with unique
characteristics and local charm,” said Chris Kramer, director of the Iowa
Department of Cultural Affairs.
Art, film, history and
culture are vital factors that business leaders, families and millennials
consider when choosing where to set up shop or settle down to live, work
and play. Cultural programs help boost the quality of life and promote
economic growth.
To support those efforts
statewide, the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs has awarded more than
200 grants and designations that will serve as catalysts for new community
initiatives, creative projects, cultural organizations and small
businesses.
This year the department
added Greenlight Grants for film and media projects.
“These film and media
projects feature interesting stories while also showcasing Iowa,” Kramer
said. “These projects represent Iowa as a place that values the creative
sector as an economic driver, contributing to a productive business climate
and a diversified economy.”
The $2,107,102 in grant
funding announced today is made through several programs overseen by the
department’s divisions: the Iowa Arts Council, the State Historical Society
of Iowa and Produce Iowa, the state office of film and media production.
This year the department received a slight increase in funding from state
and federal officials, a reflection of widespread support for Iowa art,
film, history and culture. Grants announced in this release are funded with
appropriations from the Iowa Legislature and through funding as a state
arts agency from the National Endowment for the Arts.
These grant programs
support community projects, artist-led initiatives, historic preservation,
cultural education and more. The following summary is divided into three
broad categories.
Arts, Culture &
Film Grants
Multiple
grant programs: $1,569,102
This year, the Iowa Arts Council awarded $1,429,102 in grants to 160
projects, organizations and communities – all funded by appropriations from
the Iowa legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. Here are just
a few examples:
- The Cedar
River Complex in Osage received $10,000 to partner with the Cedar
Summerstock Theater, a summer program for college theater students, to
produce “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at the Krapek
Family Fine Arts Center.
- The Iowa
Ceramics Center and Glass Studio in Cedar Rapids received $5,400 to
host the international artist collective CREATURA to lead workshops to
help recent immigrants tell their stories through art.
- CreatorsLab
in West Branch received $10,000 to develop ArtFarm, a new festival in
rural eastern Iowa that enlists regional artists to create a traveling
production that promotes a more just, equitable and inclusive world.
- The Warren
Morrow Latin Music Festival in Des Moines received $10,000 to support
Iowa’s only all-ages Latin music festival, which celebrates the
rhythms, instruments and beats from Latin America and the Spanish
Caribbean.
- BCLUW
Middle School in Union received $4,750 to bring Grammy-winning
songwriter Monte Selby to work with students to write and perform
songs about local veterans.
New this year: Greenlight
Grants
The department is excited to award $140,000 in four inaugural Greenlight Grants for film and digital
media productions that tell Iowa stories and will be produced in Iowa. This
new initiative fulfills a need for the creative media production industry
and is administered through a collaboration between the Iowa Arts Council
and Produce Iowa, the state office of film and media production.
The Greenlight Grants can
be used to produce features, shorts, pilot episodes or proof-of-concept
videos to help Iowans propel a script to the screen. Eligible projects must
be ready for production, contain excellent content that advances Iowa’s
brand, and demonstrate public value.
“Our goal with this
program is to create and sustain more jobs, retain filmmakers in Iowa and
tell more stories that are important to our state,” Produce Iowa Executive
Producer Liz Gilman said. “We want to support homegrown Iowa projects that
create media production opportunities for all Iowans and Iowa small
businesses. It's an exciting moment. We’re eager to help kick-start film
and media projects in Iowa.”
- Andrew
Sherburne of Iowa City has been awarded $50,000 to support the
production of "The Workshop," a cinematic exploration of the
people and traditions at one of Iowa's most famous institutions, the
Iowa's Writers Workshop.
- Colleen
Krantz of Adel has been awarded $30,000 to develop “Complete Bull,” a
narrative television drama about a young woman trying to make her way
in the world of modern agriculture.
- Scott
Siepker of Des Moines has been awarded $20,000 to support post-production
of “Kinnick: The Definitive Documentary,” a documentary about the life
of football legend Nile Kinnick and the stadium that bears his name.
- John
Richard of Iowa City has been awarded $40,000 to support the
production of "The Iowa Mountaineers," a documentary that
will use animation techniques to bring to life archival slides,
journals, and audio recordings about an Iowa club that pioneered
inclusive outdoor education.
View the full list of grants and learn
more about the following Iowa Arts Council programs:
Art Project Grant
Arts Build Communities Grant
Capacity Building Grant
Cultural Heritage Project Grant
Cultural Leadership Partner Operating Support Grant
Iowa Artist Fellowship
School Arts Experience
Greenlight Grant
History Grants
Multiple
grant programs: $538,000
The State Historical Society of Iowa awarded $538,000 in grants for
research and projects supported by the Historical Resource Development
Program, funded through Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP), to
preserve museum collections and country schools, invest in communities
through historic preservation, and promote Iowa history. Here are a few
examples:
- The Taylor
County Historical Society in Bedford received $50,000 to hire an
architect, engineer and contractor to stabilize and repair the Taylor
County Round Barn, which had to be closed out of fear the roof would
fail and collapse after its cupola shifted.
- The Museum
of Danish America in Elk Horn received $45,300 to preserve and share
75 boxes of club ledgers, charters and membership records donated by
the Danish Sisterhood of America. The information will be especially
valuable to genealogists and other researchers.
- The
Sawmill Museum in Clinton has been awarded $4,750 to hire a
conservator to restore an oil portrait of local lumber baron W.T.
Joyce and a mural depicting Clinton’s 1890s riverfront.
- Fremont
County Historical Society has been awarded $5,262 for repairs from
water damage at the museum building, which houses artifacts and
genealogy records.
- Winneshiek
County Conservation has been awarded $5,000 to replace a section of
the roof at the historic Frankville Stone School.
- Clayton
County Conservation has been awarded $1,324 to research, design, print
and install interpretive panels at the Osborne Schoolhouse.
- Historian
Steven Green has been awarded a $1,000 grant to research "Noshing
in the Hawkeye State: Food and Foodways in the Construction of Iowa's
Jewish Communities, 1880-1940."
View the full list of grants and learn
more about the following State Historical Society of Iowa grant programs:
Historical Resource Development Program
Country School Grant Program
Research Grant for Authors
Community
Designations
Iowa
Great Places and Cultural & Entertainment Districts
The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs designates communities as Iowa
Great Places to support new and existing infrastructure that cultivates
unique and authentic qualities of neighborhoods, communities and regions in
Iowa. Similarly, the agency designates communities as Cultural and
Entertainment Districts to recognize well-identified, walkable, mixed-use
areas of a city or county where a high concentration of cultural facilities
serves as an anchor. Overall, the state now recognizes 40 Iowa Great Places
communities and eight Cultural and Entertainment Districts, including the
following new additions:
Seventeen Iowa Great
Places were re-designated and the following two are new additions:
- Lake View
has been designated an Iowa Great Place, due in part to recreational
opportunities at Black Hawk Lake and its downtown retail and business
core. These assets are at the center of the city's vision plan, which
includes the development of a community center, downtown improvement
projects and a data-driven lake improvement project.
- The Clive
Greenbelt has been designated an Iowa Great Place with a master plan
that was developed over 18 months with significant input from local
and regional sources. The plan’s priorities include flood management
and water-quality improvements; habitat improvements; trails and
connections; recreation, arts, science, education and equity
opportunities; and policies and partnerships to protect the natural
environment.
The following three
communities are new Cultural & Entertainment Districts:
- Historic
Valley Junction in West Des Moines has been designated a Cultural and
Entertainment District due to its year-round programs and events,
including Gallery Nights, Valley Junction Arts Festival, Cinco de Mayo
Celebration and Music in the Junction. Other notable assets include
Tallgrass Theatre, Val Air Ballroom and Jordan House Museum. The
Phenix School Apartments and Studios offer 17 affordable apartments
along with studio space for artists. Overall, the district is home to
97 retail, 52 service and 15 food and beverage businesses.
- Mason
City’s newly designated Cultural and Entertainment District includes
the city’s Main Street and historic district, both of which provide opportunities
to experience a diverse array of art, culture and history, as well as
entertainment and educational resources. Highlights include the
Charles H. MacNider Art Museum, Mason City Public Library, Music Man
Square, Historic Park Inn Hotel, Mason City Community Theater and
Stebens Children’s Theater.
- Mount
Vernon’s newly designated Cultural and Entertainment District is
anchored by the First Street Community Center and Cornell College. The
district includes 11 performance spaces, 22 arts and arts-related
businesses, 17 food/drink/lodging establishments and more than 20
specialty shops. Highlights include the Mount Vernon Visitors Center,
Memorial Park and a model of the solar system created by local artist
Dennis Patton.
View the full list of new and re-designated
communities and learn more about the Iowa Great Places and Cultural & Entertainment District
program.
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