FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 22, 2011, St. John’s, NL – The Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council (NLAC) has awarded $75,000 in grants to 21 community arts organizations and groups from across the province through its Community Arts Program.
The program offers funding to not-for-profit, community-based arts organizations and groups to cover costs related to arts focused workshops, productions, presentations and adjudicator fees to name a few examples.
“Creating linkages among community groups and professional artists is incredibly important,” says Reg Winsor, executive director of the NLAC. “We make an investment in a variety of projects, led by an innovative and creative group of artists from across the province. The opportunities created through community arts strengthens artistic practice and participation throughout the province.”
Some of the groups and projects funded this year include: The Tilting Recreation and Cultural Society for Feile Tilting 2012, celebrating the Irish-Newfoundland culture of Tilting, and encouraging cultural exchange between Ireland and Newfoundland; the third, and growing, Mummers Festival, celebrating, the mummering tradition; and the Gaultois Tourism Association which will establish a theatre troupe to explore the town’s unique history under the guidance of noted playwright and director Agnes Walsh.
The Community Arts program is funded under the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s annual contribution of 2.1 million for granting programs, program delivery, operations and communications. The next deadline is September 30, 2012.
Media enquiries:
Joshua Jamieson
Communications Officer
Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council
Phone: (709) 726-2212
Toll free: 1 (866) 726-2212 (NL only)
jjamieson@nlac.ca
The NLAC is a non-profit Crown agency created in 1980 by The Arts Council Act. Its mission is to foster and promote the creation and enjoyment of the arts for the benefit of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. The Council is governed by a volunteer board of 13 appointed by government, reflecting regional representation of the province. This includes 10 professional artists who provide sectoral representation of the arts community; one community representative (with an interest in the arts); one business representative (with an interest in the arts); and one representative of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation (non-voting). The NLAC receives an annual grant of $2.1 million from the Province to support a variety of granting programs, program delivery, office administration, and communications. It also seeks support from the public and private sector. It supports the following artistic disciplines: dance, film, multidiscipline, music, theatre, visual art, and writing.
Community Arts Program
2011 Awarded Grants
Number of grants: 21
Total awarded: $75,000
St. John’s - Metro
Newfoundland Youth Theatre Arts Project
St. John's
$5,000
March 14 to May 17, 2012
The 2011 Newfoundland Youth Theatre Arts Project will be offered free of charge to the young people of the community via the Rabbittown Community Centre and the Mundy Pond Boys and Girls Club. Using theatre, youth will have an opportunity to build self esteem, confidence, teamwork and creativity through a broad range of workshops that will focus on improvisation, voice, comedy performance, rap, and stage craft. The sessions will be led by established artists such as Jane Dingle, Lois Brown , Mary Barry, Clayton Jordon and Andy Jones.
Association for the Arts in Mount Pearl
Mount Pearl
$4,500
January 15 to November 30, 2012
The Next Step Series consists of workshops and performance/exhibition opportunities that are designed to help community artists and performers improve their work in preparing to present it to the general public. Members of the artistic community can avail of workshops including: writing and editing, audition preparation, acting, and songwriting. The Association for the Arts in Mount Pearl will also provide and host open performance and exhibition events throughout the year.
The Neighbourhood Strays Bellydance Troupe
St. John's
$4,165
December 1, 2011 to May 13, 2012
The Neighbourhood Strays will host and produce Dance on the Edge IV. The show features bellydancers from around the province, and dancers from genres that include Bollywood and Flamenco. The Neighbourhood Strays will debut new choreographies created specifically for this show, coming to a stage near you, May 2012.
Friends of Victoria Park
St. John’s
$4,360
January 31 to May 31, 2012
The Starry Nights, Victoria Park Lantern Festival project is an offering of six workshops that range from three to ten hours in length, focusing on lamp and lantern-building as a prelude to the annual Victoria Park Lantern Festival. Proposed creative workshops include making solar jars, upcycling lamp shades, building pipe lights, making lamps and lanterns out of natural wood objects, block-printed lanterns, and artistic lighting effects. Local visual artists Anita Singh and Mike Donovan will lead the workshops.
Jazz East Big Band
St. John’s
$3,725
October 1 to November 30, 2012
The Jazz East Big Band will present a concert with award-winning Canadian trumpeter Mike Herriott. Returning to his home of St. John’s, Mike will be the featured soloist, performing the music of Canadian composers Rob McConnell and Kenny Wheeler, with arrangements for virtuoso trumpeter by band-leaders Maynard Ferguson and Doc Severinsen. Mike has shared the stage with some of the world's finest jazz and classical artists, was the lead trumpeter for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and has performed with Michael Buble and David Foster.
Mummers Festival
St. John’s
$3,000
December 12 to 18, 2011
The Mummers Festival is a participant-focused, community-based festival encouraging the celebration, continuance and reinvention of traditional arts and performance. The festival committee coordinates a series of free, family-oriented public events in December leading up to its crowning event the Mummers Parade. Activities include Hobby Horse, and Ugly Stick making workshops, a "Rig Up" (the province's largest disguise dress party), lectures and forums, and a Christmas concert and mummers jam.
Rotary Music Festival
St. John's
$4,000
April 22 to May 2, 2012
The Rotary Music Festival is an annual non-competitive event run by music teachers and supporters that offers intensive workshops with world renowned clinicians for students and teachers, and performance opportunities for young musicians. This year the festival is presenting workshops in choral music with Hilary Apfelstadt and Dr. Lee Willingham, concert band with Dr. Walter Barr, Dennis Beck, Jeremy S. Brown and Denise Grant, as well as in jazz band, led by David Braid and Dr. Walter Barr.
Avalon
Branch Cultural Historical Association
Branch
$3,000
August 10 to 12, 2012
Branch Culture Days will offer ballad and storytelling workshops. Culminating in a three-day cultural celebration - the songs, stories, dance and music of the Cape Shore will be showcased. Featured performers include the Fatima Academy Accordian Group, singers Linda Byrne and Eleanor Dawson, the Baccalieu Trotters dance group, The Punters, The Didhams, Jenna Kelly and Marina Gambin.
Whiteway Spring Hare Committee
Whiteway
$3,018
May 4 to July 31, 2012
The Whiteway Spring Hare event supports writers and visual artists with opportunities to participate in exhibitions and performances. A summer visual art exhibition of emerging and professional local artists will be presented for the general public. Participating artists will offer workshops as well as constructive critiques for everyone involved.
Eastern
Burin Folk Arts Council
Burin Bay Arm
$4,925
July 6 to 8, 2012
Marking its 29th year, the Burin Peninsula Festival of Folk Song and Dance is a family event presenting performances in dance, singing and music that showcases the heritage of the Burin Peninsula. This indoor event is fun for all ages, steeped in tradition and the authencity of its community.
Feller From Fortune International Festival
Fortune
$3,000
August 19 to 25, 2012
In its second year, the Feller From Fortune International Festival will present family orientated performances that highlight local, national and international expressions of dance and storytelling. Staged in the downtown area of the community, the festival hosts presentations of local and international arts as well as international foods and culture.
Central
Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Society
Gander
$4,800
April 9 to 14, 2012
The Newfoundland & Labrador Drama Festival is a competitive community-based theatre festival featuring seven full-length plays, adjudicated by an experienced theatre professional. The 2012 festival will be held at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre and will bring together community theatre groups from all over Newfoundland and Labrador. Coffee critiques on the plays presented, and workshops on various theatre subjects will also be offered to participants, who can then take their new information, skills and approaches back to their respective communities.
Botwood Mural Arts Society
Botwood
$3,000
June 1 to July 1, 2012
The Pioneer Life in Ship Cove mural will express an artist's interpretation of the pioneer spirit personified by the early settlers of Ship Cove (the original name of Botwood). Subject matter for the mural will include a collage of the many facets of early life in Ship Cove such as, the Exploits River Lumber Company's sawmill, a schooner loaded with lumber and a ship-building enterprise. Various prominent historical figures of Ship Cove, such as the town’s namesake, Reverend Botwood, both a pioneer and early spiritual leader, would also be featured.
Tilting Recreation and Cultural Society
Tilting, Fogo Island
$2,417
September 20-23, 2012
The Tilting Recreation and Cultural Society will present Feile Tilting 2012: a celebration of the Irish-Newfoundland culture of Tilting. The event seeks to encourage a cultural exchange amongst communities in Ireland and Newfoundland, and will include performances by artists, workshops in traditional arts and crafts, as well as community meals. Artists scheduled to perform include Charlie Mercer, Anita Best, Larry Foley, and Kelly Russell.
Central Newfoundland Visual Art Society [CNVAS]
Grand Falls-Windsor
$3,640
December 1, 2011 to November 30, 2012
This grant will offer CNVAS members professional instruction in palette knife oil landscape with artist Doug Downey, and two lectures on contemporary art practice as part of the Artist Workshops and Lecture Series. CNVAS will also maintain community partnerships and communication within its growing membership via CNVAS News, the Community Murals 2012 project, and volunteer activities that promote visual arts throughout central Newfoundland.
Lotus Energy Belly Dance Troupe
Grand Falls-Windsor
$3,000
December 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012
Lotus Energy Belly Dance Troupe will host and produce a stage production, Rhythm on the River, featuring a range of dance genres like bellydance, ballroom and line dance to foster the vibrant and growing adult dance community in central Newfoundland. This show will precede an intensive weekend workshop with Sarah Skinner, renowned international belly dance performer and teacher.
Dover Tidy Towns Committee
Dover
$1,000
July 1 to August 20, 2012
Funds will be used to create a historical commemorative mural that will capture the rich cultural heritage of Dover. The mural will be displayed in a public space in the community for locals to enjoy, and will be accessible to tourists visiting the town. The new mural will be publically unveiled as part of a larger event, with the artist in attendance, to celebrate the community and its past.
Gaultois Tourism Association
Galtois
$1,500
December 5, 2011 to September 3, 2012
Funds will support the establishment of a theatre troupe, under the guidance of noted playwright and director Agnes Walsh. The troupe will perform a weekly show exploring stories from the whaling and fishing town’s unique history, at Newman's Big Fish Store, a recently renovated building in the community.
Eastpen Players Community Theatre Group
Eastport
$3,200
January 16 to June 30, 2012
A multi-media presentation about life and times on Flat Islands - resettled communities lying just off the coast – billed the Flat Islands Retrospective Variety Show. Through visual displays, slide shows and live theatre performance, the community, visitors and audiences will be exposed to life as it once was in this isolated area.
Western
Trout River Heritage Committee
Trout River
$5,000
June 6 to August 31, 2012
The Passing the Time in Trout River Arts Festival is a series of concerts taking place in the Trout River Interpretation Centre hosted by Anita Best. The concerts will feature visiting professional musicians alongside local musicians and storytellers in an acoustic, traditional-style performance environment, that will be followed by an informal discussion.
Stage West Theatre Festival
Corner Brook
$4,750
July 3 to 31, 2012
Taking place in July 2012, the Stage West Theatre Festival 2012 is a summer event that features four shows. The productions will be presented at the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre, with a lineup that includes Saltwater Moon by David French, Marion Bridge by Daniel McIvor, The 39 Steps by Patrick Barlow, and the variety show A Fine Tyme: A Night of Newfoundland Songs, Stories and Poetry.
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