Iowa Cultural Programs Receive Grant Funding From DCA

For Immediate Release June 3, 2004

DES MOINES, Iowa—A new arts center in Davenport, a Tai Dam New Year celebration in Des Moines, and a traveling puppet theatre show in West Liberty are just a few of the projects funded by the Department of Cultural Affairs for this year’s Iowa Community Cultural grant program.
These projects and 14 others were recently awarded financial grants through the program, which provides a total of $225,000 to arts, historical and cultural organizations throughout the state.

The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is committed to encouraging strong cultural growth and development throughout the state and provides matching grants to support organizations and projects that provide lasting employment for Iowans while also enhancing Iowa’s artistic, cultural, and historical resources.

ICCG projects can include museum exhibits, historic restoration and archeology projects, folklife and other festivals, public art projects, ethnic heritage projects and performing arts events and companies.

The next ICCG grant deadline is March 1, 2005.

Register of Iowa Community Cultural Grant (ICCG) Recipients for Fiscal Year 2005 (alphabetical listing by city)

Ames Community Arts Council, Ames
$13,000
Cultural Coordinator Funding
Funds will be used to extend the hours of our part-time Cultural Coordinator from 20 to 30 hours per week. This position will undertake additional portions of the Ames Cultural Plan, provide new services to organizations and residents, and work cooperatively with the new Main Street Cultural District, an ACAC initiative and one of the goals of the Ames Cultural Plan.
Contact: Emily Finch, 515-233-6110

Amana Arts Guild, Amana
$2,000
Iron and Wood: The Amana Way
This project will include exhibits, workshops, commissioned artwork, and folk art demonstrations to promote Amana folk arts, especially blacksmithing and woodworking during the Amana Sesquicentennial Celebration.
Contact: Mike Mintle, 319-622-3678

Art Center Association of Sioux City, Sioux City
$19,000
Becoming a Nation
The Art Center Association of Sioux City will hire additional staff in support of a major traveling exhibition: Becoming a Nation: Americana from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, US Department of State, Aug. 13-Oct. 10, 2004.
Contact: Al Harris-Fernandez, 712-279-6272

Blanden Memorial Art Museum, Fort Dodge
$4,000
Imagining, Innovating, Inspiring
This project involves playwright Cynthia Mercati and composer Jon Chenette creating a composition focusing on the beginnings of the Blanden and its role in the arts in the Depression era. It will become the cornerstone of the Blanden’s 2007, 75th Anniversary Celebration, interweaving history and art and will be used for a wide variety of performances.
Contact: Char Gustafson, 515-573-2316

Charles City Arts Council, Charles City
$20,000
Phase 1-Expanding Accessibility to the Arts
This phase will install an elevator in Charles City’s historic Carnegie Building to improve access to the community’s Arts Center. Phases 2 and 3 will expand programming and modernize facilities to meet the needs of the project’s target population.
Contact: Rick McDonald, 641-228-6284

Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines
$11,000
Des Moines Art Center Downtown
The Art Center Downtown is a new art gallery and event site that will enable the Art Center to reach new audiences in downtown Des Moines. The site provides opportunities for partnerships with, and targeted programming for, downtown organizations and constituents. The Art Center Downtown creates employment for Iowans, tourist value for the city, and earned income for the Art Center.
Contact: Christopher Perrius, 515-227-4405

E.E. Warren Opera House Association, Greenfield
$14,000
E.E. Warren Opera House Elevator Project: Phase II
Greenfield surges forward with economic revitalization by renovating the 1896 Opera House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1979), continuing with the overall $1.5 million project by completing Phase II, elevator installation. This grant will assist in purchasing the elevator car and completing finish work to making all four floors accessible.
Contact: Catherine Howe, 641-743-2838

Englert Civic Theater, Inc., Iowa City
$20,000
Englert Civic Theater Renovation and Rehabilitation
The Englert Civic Theater Renovation and Rehabilitation is divided into eight phases. The current focus is the Theatrical Equipment phase. Completion of this project is necessary in order to open the doors to the public and begin programming. The ECT requests ICCG funding toward completion of the project.
Contact: Justine Zimmer, 319-688-2653

Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre Company, West Liberty
$8,000
Old Friends: Favorite Stories
Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre Company is requesting funds for a season of performances, workshops and events marking its 30th birthday and celebrating the arts in Iowa. The season will include puppet performances, workshops, and performances and displays by artists who have collaborated with Eulenspiegel over the years.
Contact: Monica Leo, 319-627-2487

For Generations, West Des Moines
$7,000
Tai New Year Celebration
The project is to fund 10 part-time positions. This includes the president who will continue to oversee the annual Tai Dam New Year Celebration project and interact within the communities and at the national level to accelerate fundraising to promote historic preservation and economic development. The grant will also be used to fund other part-time positions of art instructors and performers.
Contact: Som Baccam, 515-246-6727

Iowa Museum Association, Waterloo
$16,000
Executive Director & Technical Assistance Referral
The first Executive Director and paid employee for IMA will provide organizational leadership for continued development, promotion and funding of IMA; manage and coordinate operations; act as liaison with tourism, Department of Cultural Affairs, and economic development partners; serve as an official representative of IMA; and provide resources for technical support to member museums.
Contact: Cammie Scully, 319-291-4490

Legion Arts, Cedar Rapids
$20,000
Neighborhood Arts Project
The intent of the project is to implement a professionally staffed, neighborhood-based community arts program in Cedar Rapids. In cooperation with local organizations, the project will bring regionally and nationally recognized visual artists, musicians and theatre makers into a variety of community settings to interact with community groups in collaborative activities.
Contact: F. John Herbert, 319-364-1580

Living History Farms, Urbandale
$20,000
"Get Your Grip on History" at Living History Farms
"Get Your Grip on History" gives visitors of all ages a pair of work gloves and invites them to truly experience history .Working side-by-side with historical interpreters, visitors undergo the daily chores of Midwestern settlers, from digging out a canoe to mixing milk paint to baking biscuits in a wood-burning stove. In Phase IV, LHF will add a teamster, horses, reproduction vehicles, and more hands-on activities, and hire a Manager of Interpretive Farm Programs to coordinate the programs and events at the three period farms and new exhibits at the Wallace Center.
Contact: Sandi Yoder, 515-278-5286

Metro Arts Alliance of Greater Des Moines, Des Moines
$8,000
Arts on the Go
Arts on the Go is the only multidiscipline arts program that answers the need for free and accessible summer arts activities at locations throughout Polk County. Without creating a new program, it ties into the existing programs provided by host social service and cultural agencies at safe and supervised environments.
Contact: Tracy Levine, 515-280-3222

MidCoast Fine Arts, Davenport
$20,000
Bucktown Center for the Arts
This new facility celebrates the history and legend of Bucktown and hosts mixed use retail, galleries, studios, arts organizations and private condominiums, including retail presence for the area’s finest artists and resident "master craftsman." Partnership with small arts agencies in an onsite "incubator" encourages collaboration between organizations and artists throughout the building.
Contact: Dean Schroeder, 309-786-2430

Red Cedar Chamber Music, Marion
$5,000
From Starched Shirt Cuffs: Celebrating Iowa’s Czech Heritage
Iowa’s Czech heritage will be celebrated with three educational events and three concerts in September/October, 2004. The centerpiece is a new musical work composed by a consortium of 15 Iowa composers in response to the 2004 centennial celebration of renowned Czech composer, Anton Dvorak. Iowa musicians, in collaboration with the National Czech Museum and the town of Spillville, bring this work to diverse audiences.
Contact: Jan Boland, 319-377-8028

Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah
$18,000
Director of Lifelong Learning
Vesterheim will hire a Director of Lifelong Learning. This new position helps the museum realize its vision of serving Iowans at every stage of life with high-quality, object-based education. A revitalized education program led by a visionary new director will expand the ways in which Vesterheim uses its unique collection to reach a local, statewide, and national audience.
Contact: Janet Blohm Pultz, 563-382-9681

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