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County Executive's Office

Dane County Awards Over $132,000 in Grants to Local Arts Organizations

April 23, 2018
Stephanie Miller 608-267-8823
County Executive

Dane Arts Awards 86 Grants Supporting Arts and Cultural Activities Countywide with Public-Private Funds

 

Dozens of local organizations that promote community arts, history,  and culture are receiving “Dane Arts” grants, County Executive Joe Parisi and the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission announced today. Eighty-one project grants and five capital grants totaling $132,587 are being awarded in what will be the first of two grant cycles for “Dane Arts” in 2018. Organizations requested over $341,000 in support.

 

“Dane County has so many talented artists,” County Executive Joe Parisi said. “Thanks to more county financial support along with the continued help of our private donors, together we’re better able to promote and support the work of the incredibly talented people and organizations in this community.”

 

In 2017 Dane County Executive increased the grant allocation by $20,000, he continued that level of support in his 2018 budget. The “Dane Arts” grants are funded by county dollars in conjunction with private donations from the Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation, the Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.

 

This year, Dane County’s Dane Arts will award almost $250,000 in public-private funds to nonprofit organizations, schools, individuals, and municipalities for arts, cultural, and local history projects and programs offered countywide. The next project grant deadline is Wednesday, August 1, 2018, 4:00pm.

 

Grant recipients are listed below this announcement.

 

2018 Cycle 1 Project Grants Awarded

Arts in Education

 

Madison Symphony Orchestra $1,750 for Up Close & Musical 2018-2019

Up Close & Musical® is the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO)'s nationally-recognized education program that brings the MSO's Hunt Quartet to Kindergarten-3rd grade classrooms. The Quartet presents exciting and engaging lessons that get students hunting for the musical concepts of expression, melody, rhythm, and form in beloved classical music repertoire. Each year, the MSO seeks to have three of the six schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District.

 

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra $2,888 for WCO Connect: A Family Community Concert Series

WCO’s Family Community Concert Series is a new, free of charge ticketed educational program for children ages 4-10 and their families. A unique format will encourage audience members of all ages to interact with classical music and each other like they never have before and serve as a new way for parents to introduce their children to classical music. WCO will use music to inspire connections within families and communities and to foster a love for music that spans generations.

 

Drum Power $2,625 for Summer Drum and Dance Camp

The Drum Power Summer Drum and Dance Camp provides a fun opportunity for young people to practice discipline, community and leadership and drum and dance traditions from Brazil, Cuba, Peru, Guinea, Senegal, Mali and the United states that including Afro-Peruvian dance, Break Dance, Hip Hop Dance, Modern Dance and Capoeira. 

 

American Players Theatre $2,625 for 2018 Student Matinees & Workshops

Drawing from over 35 Dane County schools, APT will perform student matinees of the highest quality for over 3,000 elementary, middle and high school students in the fall of 2018. Many of these students will be from rural and underserved areas, many will be seeing classical theater live for the first time.

 

Opera for the Young $2,625 for Countywide school tour of Opera for the Young's original opera, "Super Storm"

The countywide school tour of OFTY's new opera Super Storm features music by Scott Gendel and story and libretto by Diane Garton Edie. The opera is a new commission designed to showcase opera's musical storytelling in a way that is accessible and appealing to young audiences. Teaching materials, some available in Spanish, include a Tutorial CD and Cast Recording, a Teacher's Guide about opera and Super Storm, and a Student Preparation Handbook, including activities for integration of the opera into academic subjects.

 

Madison Youth Choirs $1,000 for Madison Youth Choirs School and Community Choral Program, 2018-2019

Madison Youth Choirs' School and Community Choral Program breaks down financial, physical and perceptual barriers to music participation for over 200 Madison area students from low-income families, giving children who have traditionally been underrepresented in the arts a thrilling new opportunity to find and share their voices in a choir hosted at their school or community center. 

 

UW Community Arts Collaboratory $1,248 for UW Community Arts Collaboratory Institute

The UW Community Arts Collaboratory is an innovative project to train and support teaching artists, educators, and artists in arts-integrated education/learning. Under the direction of UW-Madison faculty in collaboration with the Bubbler at Madison Public Libraries, the Institute will curate and provide training in three tracks: train professional teaching artists, provide continuing education for Dane County educators, and support local artists.

 

Lussier Community Education Center $1,461 for Art a la Carte- Art and Community through the Lussier Community Education Center’s K-12 Enrichment Programs

Approximately 150 young people on Madison's west side explore rich cultural experiences and a variety of art forms during afterschool and summer programming at the Lussier Community Education Center (LCEC). Local artists guide students' engagement with dance, theater, music, spoken word, video, and other media to be featured at the LCEC's Gallery Night.

 

Monroe Street Arts Center $1,224 for Arts Education Community Outreach at One City Early Learning Preschool

Monroe Street Arts Center (MSAC) will bring weekly art classes to an unserved population in greater Madison by beginning a free weekly arts outreach program at One City Early Learning Preschool for the 2018-2019 academic year that will compliment and enrich their curriculum. MSAC also plans to host an art gallery night in the spring of 2019 featuring the students' artwork.

 

Central Midwest Ballet $745 for Ballet Tales: A Literacy and Movement Collaboration

Ballet Tales is a storytelling collaboration between Central Midwest Ballet Academy and Madison Public Library. Children will experience the story of Sleeping Beauty through words, pantomime, music and a classical ballet performance.

 

Children’s Theater of Madison $1,283 for Young Playwrights Program

The Young Playwrights Program is an in-school residency program designed to give voice to teenagers through the medium of playwrighting and through mentoring from teaching artists. The program culminates in a public performance featuring staged readings of selected plays, direct and performed by experienced artists. 

 

The ArtWrite Collective $1,313 for Youth ArtWrite Collective [Fine Arts]

The Youth ArtWrite Collective [Fine Arts] is an expansion of their creative youth development program in Dane County and a professional development program for the facilitating teaching artists. Teaching artists will mentor middle and high school students in fine arts for twelve weeks.

 

Urban Community Arts Network $1,000 for Academic Rap Up: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and Community Connection

Urban Community Arts Network is teaming up with Madison schools to partner local rappers with 6th-12th graders to write collaborative rap songs about school subjects. Students will record their lyrics in a professional recording studio and perform their final songs at both a school assembly and community concert.

 

Dance

 

Madison Ballet $1,160 for Madison Ballet 2018 "Behind the Curtains" Nutcracker School Show

Madison Ballet’s Behind the Curtains program blends classical dance, symphonic music, and literature into a one-of-a-kind experience for students of all ages. Behind the Curtains includes a comprehensive study guide with a full-length performance of The Nutcracker featuring 150 local dancers and live music provided by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.

 

East Madison Community Center $1,510 for Hip Hop Dance and Break Starters Program

Since 2008, East Madison Community Center has provided this b-boy/b-girl dance program where people gather twice a week to watch, learn, and coach others to learn difficult dance moves. The program also includes youth groups with designated instructors and healthy food provided. The program is free and welcomes anyone who wants to dance.

 

Dance Wisconsin $450 for New Works 2018

Dance Wisconsin's New Works 2018, celebrates varied dance genres.  Diverse innovative dance pieces crafted by local choreographers will be performed by a pre-professional local dance company in Dance Wisconsin’s 27th New Works production.

 

Li Chiao-Ping Dance $1,250 for Dancing on the Ceiling

Dancing on the Ceiling presents original solo work by established, female dance professionals from a variety of cities and disciplines. Each artist's choreography explores performance through a specifically female lens, and challenges the conventional role of the aging dancer. 

 

Kanopy Dance Theatre $1,400 for Kanopy Dance Company presents Martha Graham: Celebrate

Kanopy presents Martha Graham: Celebrate! featuring Martha Graham's masterwork Celebration(1934); Artistic Director, Buglisi Dance, Jaqueline Buglisi's Threshold(1991); Kanopy Co-Artistic Director Lisa Thurrell's Miserere, and premier by Kanopy Co-Artistic Director Robert Cleary. Virginie Mecene, Director of Martha Graham Dance Company GRAHAM2 and Kevin Predmore, Principal dancer Buglisi Dance and Martha Graham, perform Threshold. Kanopy dancers perform Graham's CelebrationMiserere and premier.

 

History

 

Monona Public Library $2,068 for One Community: Many Voices

The One Community: Many Stories project uses the Monona Public Library as a platform/repository for communitywide story collecting/sharing. Community members' stories from all ages will be gathered and accessible in all formats, including “StoryJam” performances.  Partnerships include WVMO community radio, MG21 Charter High School, and Historic Blooming Grove Historical Society.

 

Multidisciplinary Arts/Culture

 

Overture Center $2,563 for Overture's Rising Stars

Overture’s Rising Stars is an all-ages talent search that culminates with a showcase in the Capitol Theater at Overture Center for the Arts. Now entering its fifth year, Rising Stars spotlights Dane County’s talented musicians, dancers, and performing artists, while providing them with professional development opportunities and valuable expert feedback.

 

Madison Children’s Museum $550 for E-Textiles Programming

In the summer of 2018, Madison Children's Museum will train staff on e-textiles equipment, then hold a variety of programs open to the public. From summer camps, to weekly workshops, to a free demonstration during our Free Family Night, visitors will have many opportunities to have this integrated fashion experience.

 

Disability Pride Madison $2,070 for Disability Pride Festival

The Disability Pride Festival celebrates the lives and civil rights of all people with disabilities.  Through art and performance, we will share the stories of their lives, breakdown and end internalized shame and stereotypes and build a stronger, more inclusive community for everyone.

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Madison Public Library Foundation $1,725 for Wisconsin Book Festival 2018

Madison Public Library presents the 2018 Wisconsin Book Festival by developing 110 free programs presenting literature, art, and performance by local literary artists and nationally-acclaimed authors. The Festival is in its 16th year, demonstrating a long-standing commitment to providing the community access to diverse experiences in the literary arts. 

 

Wild Rumpus Circus/Mazo Movement Arts Center $1,300 for The Wild Rumpus World Circus: Stilts, Masks and Multiculturalism

The "Wild Rumpus World Circus" will offer hands-on workshops and interactive performances in two Dane County schools and one community center, highlighting stilt dancing and mask traditions from many cultures, including Mexico, China, Africa and the Caribbean. Workshop participants will explore mask-theater, mask-making, dance, and stilt-walking. 

 

Mazomanie Charitable Alliance $1,936 for The Gander Dancer Festival

The Gandy Dancer Festival, a production of the Mazomanie Charitable Alliance, is a one-day event which features musical performances by local, regional and nationally known Americana artists, along with family activities, rides and exhibits.  The event commemorates our rich circus and railroad history.

 

Graminy $2,000 for Respiration: The Breath of Life and the Life of Breath

Science becomes music in a celebration and exploration of the life cycle of breath, from soil to plants to the air to our own lungs. The awarding winning Madison class-grass group Graminy will take data from the world-famous WISCT (Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trials) study and turn it into music.

 

Domestic Abuse Intervention Services $861 for Art Classes for Domestic Abuse Survivors Gabrielle Javier-Cerulli, artist and art therapist, facilitates weekly art classes to domestic abuse survivors at DAIS for the first time. Engaging in art-making will benefit the shelter residents by providing stress relief, a chance to learn something new, and a step towards empowerment.

 

Lilada’s Living Room $1,700 for Black Women Heal, Black Girl Live

This documentary will give a voice to Black women and young Black girls who have been victims of sexual abuse and suicidal thoughts. It will raise awareness about a growing problem in this community so healing can begin. 

 

Music

 

Wisconsin Union Theater $2,100 for Madison World Music Festival 2018

The Madison World Music Festival will proudly celebrate musical traditions from around the world during two days of free public activities featuring headlining international artists representing the best of the best from around the globe as well as educational programs to meaningfully connect artists to the community.

 

Madison Central Park Sessions $1,500 for Novalima Appearance at Central Park Sessions

Novalima, Peru's most renowned dance band, will make its first appearance in Madison on August 2nd at an event produced by Madison Central Park Sessions, Inc., in partnership with Centro Hispano.  Novalima will perform two one-hour sets preceded by an excellent local band, Golpe Tierra. 

 

Grace Presents $975 for Grace Presents Concert Series

Grace Presents monthly concert series offers a broad range of musical styles including jazz, classical, folk, world and more.  Hour-long lunchtime concerts are free for all to enjoy and feature exceptionally talented musicians from the local area.

 

The Willy Street Chamber Players $2,400 for 2018 Summer Series

The acclaimed Willy Street Chamber Players will present four exciting summer concerts on the eastside of Madison featuring world-class guest artists, music that spans the continents and the centuries, and engaging post-concert receptions in partnership with local Madison food vendors.

 

Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective $2,000 for Sugar Maple Music Festival

Madison’s locally grown, all-volunteer Sugar Maple Music Festival celebrates its 15th year of building community through music and music education. Roots music fans of all ages will come together to hear, create and learn about music through performances, jam sessions and interactive workshops.

 

con vivo $816 for con vivo!... music with life

con vivo!...music with life is a dynamic, professional chamber music ensemble comprised of seven core musicians drawn from the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and other regional performing groups that plays live chamber music.

 

Madison Opera, Inc. $2,778 for Opera in the Park 2018

Madison Opera is pleased to present Opera in the Park 2018, the 17th year of this free community concert that has become a Dane County summer tradition. Featuring spectacular guest soloists, the Madison Opera Chorus, and the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the concert features highlights from opera and Broadway, performed underneath the stars in Madison's beautiful Garner Park.

 

Jazz at Five $1,220 for Jazz at Five

Jazz at Five outdoor concert series begins in August. Join us at the top of State Street and enjoy free performances each week from award-winning national and regional acts, along with the best local jazz musicians Madison has to offer. Come experience the sounds of summer in Madison.

 

Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra $2,468 for WYSO's Steenbock Family Fall Concert Series
The Evelyn Steenbock Fall Concerts serve as the first performances of the WYSO season, in which their diverse group of young musicians can display their talents and reap the rewards of their hard work. The Steenbock Concerts series is dedicated to private and school music teachers, who will be honored for their great efforts in advancing music education.


Girls Rock Camp Madison $2,100 for Girls Rock Camp Madison

Girls Rock Camp Madison is a one-week day camp for girls ages 8-18 where campers learn an instrument, write a song, form a band, record in a professional recording studio, then rock out in front of hundreds of screaming fans at a showcase. GRC Madison’s mission is to support a culture of positive self-esteem and collaboration among girls while building community through music.

 

LunART Festival $2,566 for LunART Festival 2018

The LunART Festival vision is to bring women together in a creative capacity with a mission is to support, inspire, promote, and celebrate women in the arts through public performances, exhibitions, workshops, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Doing so enriches our community and creates a welcoming space for learning and experimentation.

 

Dane Dances $2,100 for Dane Dances

In its 19th season, Dane Dances is now one of the premier trademark summer activities in Dane County that brings together live music and dancing. It is also recognized as the most successful volunteer community effort at promoting diversity and bringing people of all ages, racial and ethnic backgrounds and incomes together.

 

Capitol City Band Association $1,250 for Special celebration concert (and rehearsal) highlighting the milestone achievement 50th season concerts in the park

Capitol City Band to play 50th celebration concert for 50th season of concerts in the park. There's music for everyone, affordable (free) and accessible (on- and off-street parking).

 

Wisconsin Union Theater $2,100 for Isthmus Jazz Festival 2018

The Isthmus Jazz Festival, now in its 31st year, is re-imaged in 2018 as a week-long celebration of jazz in venues throughout the city, bookended by headlining performances on Memorial Union Terrace. 

 

Middleton Community Orchestra $2,100 for Fall and Holiday Concerts 2018

Performed by outstanding, amateur musicians from Dane County in collaboration with some of classical music’s brightest stars who have ties to the area, MCO's Fall and Holiday Concerts are affordable, accessible community events perfect for audiences of ALL ages.

 

Friend of Allen Centennial Gardens $1,510 for Summer Sundays in the Garden 2018

In its third season in 2018, Madison’s new concert series, Summer Sundays in the Garden, offers jazz and classical chamber music on alternating Sunday afternoons beginning with the summer solstice and concluding with the autumnal equinox, June through September.   Free and open to the public, the series takes place in the inspiring natural surrounds of the English Garden at Allen Centennial Gardens, and features the area’s best local musicians with occasional outside guest artists. 

 

Token Creek Festival $2,500 for Token Creek Chamber Music Festival 2018

The late-season garden inspires Token Creek's 2018 Festival: Harvest. We’ll explore themes of risk, patience, experimentation, disappointment, and finally amazement at the resulting abundance, nourishment and variety.  Three persistent strands will again be woven into our season: Bach cantatas, Haydn trios, Schubert-Schumann songs for voice and piano – all works for small spaces, about community, about gathering together as a source of enlightenment, support, celebration, solace—and harvest. 

 

MAMA Inc. $2,100 for 2018 Madison Area Music Association Awards Show

The Madison Area Music Association (MAMA) Annual Awards show is a Grammy-style event which recognizes the efforts of local musicians, music business professionals and educators.

 

PEBOGA $1,120 for 2nd Annual Next Level Artists Showcase

Next Level Artists Showcase is a free one-day outdoor music event that serves as a platform for a cross section of music genres (i.e. R&B, Pop, Smooth Jazz, etc.) featuring primarily local artists. Next Level Artists Showcase is designed to provide high quality promotional exposure to aspiring local artists while serving as a family and community event.

 

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society $2,882 for 2018 Summer Chamber Music Festival, "Toy Stories"

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society combines musicians from around the country, varied repertoire, and delightful surprises to create "serious fun." In 12 concerts and four free community events, our 27th season, "Toy Stories," will feature well-loved traditional and thrilling contemporary music presented to some of the best audiences around! 

 

Sun Prairie Public Library $500 for Sun Prairie Public Library Live Music Series

The Sun Prairie Public Library Live Music Series is a free concert series that is designed to increase musical awareness and enrich the lives of Sun Prairie community members and Dane County residents, highlighting a diversity of performance types, musical genres, cultural histories and traditions.

 

Fresco Opera Theater $980 for Garage Opera

Fresco takes opera from the concert stage and brings it to you, performing the classics in your neighborhood! As the garage door opens, sit back and enjoy the art so many have for hundreds of years - without leaving the comfort of your community! Garage Opera is portable, without sacrifice.

 

Madison Music Collective $2,290 for InDIGenous Jazz Fall 2018 Concert Series: Showcasing Music Composed and Performed by Local Jazz Musicians

The InDIGenous Jazz series presents new, original music composed and performed by local jazz musicians and in a wide variety of jazz styles. Each concert is two hour-long sets, plus a Q&A session with performers. Previous concerts have been enthusiastically received and audience sizes continue to increase.

 

Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra $2,030 for Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra 2018 Season

The Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra is a free summer festival ensemble dedicated to providing an intensive small orchestra experience for advanced high school and college musicians. Founded in 2010 by Music Director Mikko Rankin Utevsky, the orchestra prepares two full programs each summer, culminating in public concerts.

 

North/Eastside Senior Collation $1,150 for 2018 Summer concert Series in Warner Park

Enjoy free, live music for the whole family at the 24th Annual Summer Concert Series at Warner Park Shelter. Enjoy the sounds of local bands in this relaxed, intimate setting.

 

Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center $2,100 for Le Fete de Marquette

Bonjour and welcome to La Fete de Marquette, Madison's favorite summer music festival! Games and activities for families, plus good food and great drink all set the scene for 20 performers from around the globe during this four peak days of summer (July 12-15). At Milton McPike Park (202 S. Ingersoll Street).

 

Handel Aria Competition $1,342 for Handel Aria Competition

The Handel Aria Competition is an annual event held in Madison, Wisconsin to promote the performance and appreciation of Handel's extensive vocal repertoire. Founders Dean and Orange Schroeder are enthusiasts of George Frideric Handel's music and lifelong supporters of the arts.

 

Marquette Neighborhood Association $1,176 for Marquette Waterfront Festival's Cottonwood Stage

A 5th-year feature of the popular Marquette Waterfront Festival, the Cottonwood Stage is a unique opportunity to combine the fun and informality of an outdoor festival with the intimacy of a small venue. It offers Madisonians of all ages a chance to experience a deeper range of sounds and learn about different facets of music, especially quieter and subtler music that might not work on a festival mainstage.

 

Make Music Madison $648 for Make Music Madison

Performed by anyone, enjoyed by everyone, Make Music Madison is a free, citywide, outdoor celebration of community through music, held annually on the summer solstice.  

 

Madison Bach Musicians $2,200 for Madison Bach Musicians October 5 & 6 concerts "Music of Bach & Handel" and October 9 educational outreach events at Emerson Elementary and Music con Brio

Madison Bach Musicians will open its 15th season with a baroque quartet performing two concerts dedicated to the music of Bach and Handel. On October 9, MBM will perform and discuss selections from this repertoire for a school assembly at Emerson Elementary on Madison's near-east side. After the assembly, MBM players will conduct a workshop with music violin, cello, and keyboard students enrolled in the Music Con Brio program.

 

Madison Early Music Festival $1,300 for Madison Early Music Festival 2018

The Madison Early Music Festival (MEMF) offers a week of workshops, concerts, and lectures open to musicians and classical music lovers. In 2018, MEMF will highlight A Cabinet of Curiosities: Journey to Lübeck, a theme exploring how the 16th century Reformation’s shifts in religion, culture, and texts changed the world.

 

Arohana School of Music $2,040 for Midwest Melharmony Festival - A Multicultural Festival Featuring Dance and Music from the 15th Century Onwards!

A multicultural event of artistic, cultural, and historic significance, the Melharmony Festival will center around the work of four composers across different genres: Arunagirunathar (c 1400), Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840), Gustav Holst (1874-1934), and Chitravina N Ravikiran (1967). Performers will include Creator of Melharmony/Slide-Instrumentalist Maestro Chitravina N Ravikiran, Apollo Chamber Players, and the community-at-large!

 

Urban Community Arts Network, Ltd $1,177 for For the Love of Hip-Hop Summer Concert Series

Urban Community Arts Network, Ltd. is hosting For the Love of Hip-Hop, a free, outdoor summer concert series featuring all local artists. The aim of this series is to create performance opportunities for Dane County Hip-Hop artists and to expose the community to the vibrant Hip-Hop culture in Dane County.

 

Madison Blues Society $993 for 16th Annual Blues Picnic

The Madison Blues Society will hold its 16th Annual Blues Picnic is a free and family-friendly event featuring 5 blues bands (local, regional, and a headliner), plus a performance by the "Blues Kids," in celebration of an art form both universal in appeal and uniquely American in origin.

 

Short Order

 

Katherine Steichen Rosing (individual artist) $400 for Generations Lost (Forest Installation)

Generations Lost is an immersive installation inviting a timeless journey through a white forest of suspended ghostlike trees, towering graphite drawings with detailed leaf patterns reminding us of the beauty and necessity of wild and urban forests under threat from changing environmental conditions.

 

Theater

 

Oregon Straw Hat Players, $609 for Hello, Dolly!

Oregon Straw Hat Players presents Hello, Dolly!, the high-spirited and uplifting musical comedy that asks each of us to step forward and join the parade of life. Hello Dolly! Is based on Thornton Wilder's play The Matchmaker and carries the same themes as the play by calling the characters to live a fuller life. 

 

Music Theatre of Madison $918 for LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Music Theatre of Madison will present the Wisconsin premiere of the musical Little Miss Sunshine as it is performed, directed, and designed by a cast of Madison artists and providing opportunities for students ages 8-18 to work with adult professionals. The musical, adapted from the Oscar-winning film of the same name, tells the story of a dysfunctional family who band together when quirky, 10-year-old Olive wants to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.

 

Music Theatre of Madison $1,320 for Beyond the Ingenue

Beyond the Ingenue will showcase musical theatre pieces that illustrate women's issues beyond those of traditional male/female romances.  Stories and ideas addressed will include female empowerment, motherhood, workplace issues, female friendships, gender issues, and more. The revue will travel to venues across Dane County and offer “Pay What You Can" performances.  

 

Strollers Theatre $900 for Infamous Mothers

This world premiere is a stage adaptation of "Infamous Mothers" by local author Sagashus T. Levingston, chronicling the oral histories of 20 women. "We're not your average good girls", Levingston writes. "We are survivors of domestic abuse and sexual trauma. But don't call us damsels in distress."

 

Forward Theater $2,625 for SKELETON CREW and its accompanying art exhibit

Forward Theater Company opens its 10th Anniversary season with Dominique Morisseau's poignant new play SKELETON CREW. Performances at the Playhouse in Overture Center and will be accompanied by extensive community engagement activities including an art exhibit: "After the Closing: The Faces of Oscar Mayer Employees."

 

Madison Savoyards $1,313 for Die Fledermaus, or The Bat

Madison Savoyards, Ltd. expands its program offerings beyond the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas to present a light comic opera by Johann Strauss II: Die Fledermaus, or The Bat.  Sung in English, this high-spirited operetta contains themes of struggle between the social classes, brotherhood and love in a modernized setting.  

 

Stage Q $812 for Queer Shorts Unity

In hopes of contributing to the unification of the LGBTQ community during such uncertain times, this year's theme is Unity.  This latest installment of Queer Shorts will seek to illuminate our queer community with its amazing diversity through stories of pride, honor, history and sacrifice.

 

Fermat’s Last Theater Company $449 for The Many Trials of Bertolt Brecht

In an era concerned about privacy and free speech, this play takes a look back at the House Un-American activities Committee and it's 1947 questioning of actors, playwrights and poets.  Bertolt Brecht was called before the Committee and delivered a masterful performance - and left the country the next day.

 

 

Wisconsin Veterans Museum $1,250 for Talking Spirits XX Cemetery Tours

This award-winning living history programs illuminates the lives of many prominent and lesser known-figures in Wisconsin history. In honor of the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War I, 2018 tours will focus on the contributions of Wisconsin’s soldiers and citizens during the Civil War and World War I.

 

Visual Arts

 

Bayview Foundation $2,000 for The Community Totems Project 

Approximately 100 Bayview residents and volunteers will design and create a series of ceramic community totems in collaboration with teaching artist Brian Kluge. The totems will beautify Bayview property while showcasing imagery representative of the diverse cultures, traditions and histories of Bayview residents. 

 

Madison Parks Foundation $2,058 for Makeshift Festival

Makeshift Festival is an annual celebration of art, food, and public spaces held in a different Madison park each year. The temporary pop-up exhibition brings art and food from throughout the Midwest to Dane County for visitors of all ages to enjoy in Madison's green spaces. 

 

VSA Wisconsin $800 for Art Sparks Success: VSA Wisconsin at Art Fair on the Square

VSA Wisconsin will exhibit nearly 200 artworks by approximately 30 Wisconsin artists with disabilities at Madison's annual Art Fair on the Square. Event attendees will be able to view and purchase these works and meet contributing artists in person.

 

Madison Museum of Contemporary Art $2,625 for Joel Shapiro: The Bronzes

MMoCA will present an exhibition of one of the most influential sculptors working today. Joel Shapiro: The Bronzes will survey this American artist’s output in cast bronze from 1983 to present. The exhibition will feature seventeen major bronze sculptures that trace the evolution of the artist’s work.

 

Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, & Letters $1,360 for Plants & Place: Vanishing Flora in the Age of Climate Change

Plants & Place: Vanishing Flora in the Age of Climate Change, a group exhibition at the James Watrous Gallery, will feature Wisconsin artists focused on botanical subjects and regional ecosystems. In consultation with scientists and citizen groups engaged in protecting native landscapes and local species, each artist will create new work highlighting the impact of climate change on our state's plant communities. 

 

Waunakee Community Foundation $1,313 for Waunakee Area Sculpture Project

The project's concept is to commission, design, fabricate and install a major sculpture art work to celebrate excellence in education, and honor all teachers and staff, both public and private, in the Waunakee Community School District (WCSD). 

 

Farley Center for Peace, Justice and Sustainability $435 for Sanctuary 2018

Sanctuary 2018: Art and nature come together as a land art exhibition installed at the Farley Center for Peace, Justice and Sustainability in 2017 is revisited and re-imagined through this provocative photographic journey. Sixteen area artists created art in the woods with a view to increasing our sensibility towards our environment.

 

Arts Literature Laboratory $1,313 for 2018 Solo/Small Group Emerging Artist Exhibitions

In 2018, ALL will present solo and small group exhibitions by local emerging artists including the feminist artist collective SPOOKY BOOBS COLLECTIVE, a group of black female artists from Wisconsin, Madison artist Ariel Wood, and two emerging artists selected to represent Dane County in Bridge Work 4.

 

Veteran Print Project $2,000 for In Good Company, Works from Emerging Veteran Artists

In Good Company, Works from Emerging Veteran Artists, will function as a month-long showcase of Veteran Art. Artists from around the country are invited to participate in multiple exhibitions of work that will saturate the city of Madison, Wisconsin for the month of November 2018.

 

Capital Grants

 

Verona Area Community Theater $1,165 for VACT Microphone Replacement

To be compliant with new FCC regulations, the Verona Area Community Theater (VACT) needs to replace five microphones.  VACT produces 10 high quality productions each year with attendance of over 8,600 in 2014.  Wireless microphones are used to amplify the actors across all ages (5-85 years old). VACT's audience is from across Dane county - as productions are high-quality and affordable.

 

Mount Horeb Landmarks Foundation, Inc. $1,000 for District #1 Schoolhouse Restoration

The Mount Horeb Landmarks Foundation is restoring the District #1 Schoolhouse, the oldest remaining school in the village, and it is again a gathering place for residents of the village and visitors to enjoy through living history experiences, and social and educational events. 

 

Capitol City Band Association $950 for Two portable Stagehand 4x8x24/32 platforms to match existing stage units and two 3-step stairways to access the new platforms

Summer 2018 - 50th season - concerts in the park. In the interest of safety, Capitol City Band Association needs to purchase two 4x8x32" platforms with access stairs that securely connect to the existing Stagehand stage units to accommodate the percussion section and for the trombone section.

 

Madison Circus Space $2,000 for Madison Circus Space Floor

The Madison Circus Space is requesting $3,000 for the purchase of roll-out mats to be used in the current space, then temporary location (during demolition and construction), and finally, the new permanent building.

 

Fermat’s Last Theater Company $138 for Fermat’s Podcasting Project – Year Two

The Fermat Theater Company is requesting $138 to improve quality and flexibility. Having four mid-range microphones and headsets will allow for better audio when more than one voice is on a podcast.  The USB hub is necessary to connect all the devices to the laptop.  Editing out background noise and adding music and alternate cuts of a reading are straight forward with the Audicity software. 

Dane Arts Awards 86 Grants Supporting Arts and Cultural Activities Countywide with Public-Private Funds

 

Dozens of local organizations that promote community arts, history,  and culture are receiving “Dane Arts” grants, County Executive Joe Parisi and the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission announced today. Eighty-one project grants and five capital grants totaling $132,587 are being awarded in what will be the first of two grant cycles for “Dane Arts” in 2018. Organizations requested over $341,000 in support.

 

“Dane County has so many talented artists,” County Executive Joe Parisi said. “Thanks to more county financial support along with the continued help of our private donors, together we’re better able to promote and support the work of the incredibly talented people and organizations in this community.”

 

In 2017 Dane County Executive increased the grant allocation by $20,000, he continued that level of support in his 2018 budget. The “Dane Arts” grants are funded by county dollars in conjunction with private donations from the Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation, the Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.

 

This year, Dane County’s Dane Arts will award almost $250,000 in public-private funds to nonprofit organizations, schools, individuals, and municipalities for arts, cultural, and local history projects and programs offered countywide. The next project grant deadline is Wednesday, August 1, 2018, 4:00pm.

 

Grant recipients are listed below this announcement.

 

2018 Cycle 1 Project Grants Awarded

Arts in Education

 

Madison Symphony Orchestra $1,750 for Up Close & Musical 2018-2019

Up Close & Musical® is the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO)'s nationally-recognized education program that brings the MSO's Hunt Quartet to Kindergarten-3rd grade classrooms. The Quartet presents exciting and engaging lessons that get students hunting for the musical concepts of expression, melody, rhythm, and form in beloved classical music repertoire. Each year, the MSO seeks to have three of the six schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District.

 

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra $2,888 for WCO Connect: A Family Community Concert Series

WCO’s Family Community Concert Series is a new, free of charge ticketed educational program for children ages 4-10 and their families. A unique format will encourage audience members of all ages to interact with classical music and each other like they never have before and serve as a new way for parents to introduce their children to classical music. WCO will use music to inspire connections within families and communities and to foster a love for music that spans generations.

 

Drum Power $2,625 for Summer Drum and Dance Camp

The Drum Power Summer Drum and Dance Camp provides a fun opportunity for young people to practice discipline, community and leadership and drum and dance traditions from Brazil, Cuba, Peru, Guinea, Senegal, Mali and the United states that including Afro-Peruvian dance, Break Dance, Hip Hop Dance, Modern Dance and Capoeira. 

 

American Players Theatre $2,625 for 2018 Student Matinees & Workshops

Drawing from over 35 Dane County schools, APT will perform student matinees of the highest quality for over 3,000 elementary, middle and high school students in the fall of 2018. Many of these students will be from rural and underserved areas, many will be seeing classical theater live for the first time.

 

Opera for the Young $2,625 for Countywide school tour of Opera for the Young's original opera, "Super Storm"

The countywide school tour of OFTY's new opera Super Storm features music by Scott Gendel and story and libretto by Diane Garton Edie. The opera is a new commission designed to showcase opera's musical storytelling in a way that is accessible and appealing to young audiences. Teaching materials, some available in Spanish, include a Tutorial CD and Cast Recording, a Teacher's Guide about opera and Super Storm, and a Student Preparation Handbook, including activities for integration of the opera into academic subjects.

 

Madison Youth Choirs $1,000 for Madison Youth Choirs School and Community Choral Program, 2018-2019

Madison Youth Choirs' School and Community Choral Program breaks down financial, physical and perceptual barriers to music participation for over 200 Madison area students from low-income families, giving children who have traditionally been underrepresented in the arts a thrilling new opportunity to find and share their voices in a choir hosted at their school or community center. 

 

UW Community Arts Collaboratory $1,248 for UW Community Arts Collaboratory Institute

The UW Community Arts Collaboratory is an innovative project to train and support teaching artists, educators, and artists in arts-integrated education/learning. Under the direction of UW-Madison faculty in collaboration with the Bubbler at Madison Public Libraries, the Institute will curate and provide training in three tracks: train professional teaching artists, provide continuing education for Dane County educators, and support local artists.

 

Lussier Community Education Center $1,461 for Art a la Carte- Art and Community through the Lussier Community Education Center’s K-12 Enrichment Programs

Approximately 150 young people on Madison's west side explore rich cultural experiences and a variety of art forms during afterschool and summer programming at the Lussier Community Education Center (LCEC). Local artists guide students' engagement with dance, theater, music, spoken word, video, and other media to be featured at the LCEC's Gallery Night.

 

Monroe Street Arts Center $1,224 for Arts Education Community Outreach at One City Early Learning Preschool

Monroe Street Arts Center (MSAC) will bring weekly art classes to an unserved population in greater Madison by beginning a free weekly arts outreach program at One City Early Learning Preschool for the 2018-2019 academic year that will compliment and enrich their curriculum. MSAC also plans to host an art gallery night in the spring of 2019 featuring the students' artwork.

 

Central Midwest Ballet $745 for Ballet Tales: A Literacy and Movement Collaboration

Ballet Tales is a storytelling collaboration between Central Midwest Ballet Academy and Madison Public Library. Children will experience the story of Sleeping Beauty through words, pantomime, music and a classical ballet performance.

 

Children’s Theater of Madison $1,283 for Young Playwrights Program

The Young Playwrights Program is an in-school residency program designed to give voice to teenagers through the medium of playwrighting and through mentoring from teaching artists. The program culminates in a public performance featuring staged readings of selected plays, direct and performed by experienced artists. 

 

The ArtWrite Collective $1,313 for Youth ArtWrite Collective [Fine Arts]

The Youth ArtWrite Collective [Fine Arts] is an expansion of their creative youth development program in Dane County and a professional development program for the facilitating teaching artists. Teaching artists will mentor middle and high school students in fine arts for twelve weeks.

 

Urban Community Arts Network $1,000 for Academic Rap Up: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and Community Connection

Urban Community Arts Network is teaming up with Madison schools to partner local rappers with 6th-12th graders to write collaborative rap songs about school subjects. Students will record their lyrics in a professional recording studio and perform their final songs at both a school assembly and community concert.

 

Dance

 

Madison Ballet $1,160 for Madison Ballet 2018 "Behind the Curtains" Nutcracker School Show

Madison Ballet’s Behind the Curtains program blends classical dance, symphonic music, and literature into a one-of-a-kind experience for students of all ages. Behind the Curtains includes a comprehensive study guide with a full-length performance of The Nutcracker featuring 150 local dancers and live music provided by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.

 

East Madison Community Center $1,510 for Hip Hop Dance and Break Starters Program

Since 2008, East Madison Community Center has provided this b-boy/b-girl dance program where people gather twice a week to watch, learn, and coach others to learn difficult dance moves. The program also includes youth groups with designated instructors and healthy food provided. The program is free and welcomes anyone who wants to dance.

 

Dance Wisconsin $450 for New Works 2018

Dance Wisconsin's New Works 2018, celebrates varied dance genres.  Diverse innovative dance pieces crafted by local choreographers will be performed by a pre-professional local dance company in Dance Wisconsin’s 27th New Works production.

 

Li Chiao-Ping Dance $1,250 for Dancing on the Ceiling

Dancing on the Ceiling presents original solo work by established, female dance professionals from a variety of cities and disciplines. Each artist's choreography explores performance through a specifically female lens, and challenges the conventional role of the aging dancer. 

 

Kanopy Dance Theatre $1,400 for Kanopy Dance Company presents Martha Graham: Celebrate

Kanopy presents Martha Graham: Celebrate! featuring Martha Graham's masterwork Celebration(1934); Artistic Director, Buglisi Dance, Jaqueline Buglisi's Threshold(1991); Kanopy Co-Artistic Director Lisa Thurrell's Miserere, and premier by Kanopy Co-Artistic Director Robert Cleary. Virginie Mecene, Director of Martha Graham Dance Company GRAHAM2 and Kevin Predmore, Principal dancer Buglisi Dance and Martha Graham, perform Threshold. Kanopy dancers perform Graham's CelebrationMiserere and premier.

 

History

 

Monona Public Library $2,068 for One Community: Many Voices

The One Community: Many Stories project uses the Monona Public Library as a platform/repository for communitywide story collecting/sharing. Community members' stories from all ages will be gathered and accessible in all formats, including “StoryJam” performances.  Partnerships include WVMO community radio, MG21 Charter High School, and Historic Blooming Grove Historical Society.

 

Multidisciplinary Arts/Culture

 

Overture Center $2,563 for Overture's Rising Stars

Overture’s Rising Stars is an all-ages talent search that culminates with a showcase in the Capitol Theater at Overture Center for the Arts. Now entering its fifth year, Rising Stars spotlights Dane County’s talented musicians, dancers, and performing artists, while providing them with professional development opportunities and valuable expert feedback.

 

Madison Children’s Museum $550 for E-Textiles Programming

In the summer of 2018, Madison Children's Museum will train staff on e-textiles equipment, then hold a variety of programs open to the public. From summer camps, to weekly workshops, to a free demonstration during our Free Family Night, visitors will have many opportunities to have this integrated fashion experience.

 

Disability Pride Madison $2,070 for Disability Pride Festival

The Disability Pride Festival celebrates the lives and civil rights of all people with disabilities.  Through art and performance, we will share the stories of their lives, breakdown and end internalized shame and stereotypes and build a stronger, more inclusive community for everyone.

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Madison Public Library Foundation $1,725 for Wisconsin Book Festival 2018

Madison Public Library presents the 2018 Wisconsin Book Festival by developing 110 free programs presenting literature, art, and performance by local literary artists and nationally-acclaimed authors. The Festival is in its 16th year, demonstrating a long-standing commitment to providing the community access to diverse experiences in the literary arts. 

 

Wild Rumpus Circus/Mazo Movement Arts Center $1,300 for The Wild Rumpus World Circus: Stilts, Masks and Multiculturalism

The "Wild Rumpus World Circus" will offer hands-on workshops and interactive performances in two Dane County schools and one community center, highlighting stilt dancing and mask traditions from many cultures, including Mexico, China, Africa and the Caribbean. Workshop participants will explore mask-theater, mask-making, dance, and stilt-walking. 

 

Mazomanie Charitable Alliance $1,936 for The Gander Dancer Festival

The Gandy Dancer Festival, a production of the Mazomanie Charitable Alliance, is a one-day event which features musical performances by local, regional and nationally known Americana artists, along with family activities, rides and exhibits.  The event commemorates our rich circus and railroad history.

 

Graminy $2,000 for Respiration: The Breath of Life and the Life of Breath

Science becomes music in a celebration and exploration of the life cycle of breath, from soil to plants to the air to our own lungs. The awarding winning Madison class-grass group Graminy will take data from the world-famous WISCT (Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trials) study and turn it into music.

 

Domestic Abuse Intervention Services $861 for Art Classes for Domestic Abuse Survivors Gabrielle Javier-Cerulli, artist and art therapist, facilitates weekly art classes to domestic abuse survivors at DAIS for the first time. Engaging in art-making will benefit the shelter residents by providing stress relief, a chance to learn something new, and a step towards empowerment.

 

Lilada’s Living Room $1,700 for Black Women Heal, Black Girl Live

This documentary will give a voice to Black women and young Black girls who have been victims of sexual abuse and suicidal thoughts. It will raise awareness about a growing problem in this community so healing can begin. 

 

Music

 

Wisconsin Union Theater $2,100 for Madison World Music Festival 2018

The Madison World Music Festival will proudly celebrate musical traditions from around the world during two days of free public activities featuring headlining international artists representing the best of the best from around the globe as well as educational programs to meaningfully connect artists to the community.

 

Madison Central Park Sessions $1,500 for Novalima Appearance at Central Park Sessions

Novalima, Peru's most renowned dance band, will make its first appearance in Madison on August 2nd at an event produced by Madison Central Park Sessions, Inc., in partnership with Centro Hispano.  Novalima will perform two one-hour sets preceded by an excellent local band, Golpe Tierra. 

 

Grace Presents $975 for Grace Presents Concert Series

Grace Presents monthly concert series offers a broad range of musical styles including jazz, classical, folk, world and more.  Hour-long lunchtime concerts are free for all to enjoy and feature exceptionally talented musicians from the local area.

 

The Willy Street Chamber Players $2,400 for 2018 Summer Series

The acclaimed Willy Street Chamber Players will present four exciting summer concerts on the eastside of Madison featuring world-class guest artists, music that spans the continents and the centuries, and engaging post-concert receptions in partnership with local Madison food vendors.

 

Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective $2,000 for Sugar Maple Music Festival

Madison’s locally grown, all-volunteer Sugar Maple Music Festival celebrates its 15th year of building community through music and music education. Roots music fans of all ages will come together to hear, create and learn about music through performances, jam sessions and interactive workshops.

 

con vivo $816 for con vivo!... music with life

con vivo!...music with life is a dynamic, professional chamber music ensemble comprised of seven core musicians drawn from the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and other regional performing groups that plays live chamber music.

 

Madison Opera, Inc. $2,778 for Opera in the Park 2018

Madison Opera is pleased to present Opera in the Park 2018, the 17th year of this free community concert that has become a Dane County summer tradition. Featuring spectacular guest soloists, the Madison Opera Chorus, and the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the concert features highlights from opera and Broadway, performed underneath the stars in Madison's beautiful Garner Park.

 

Jazz at Five $1,220 for Jazz at Five

Jazz at Five outdoor concert series begins in August. Join us at the top of State Street and enjoy free performances each week from award-winning national and regional acts, along with the best local jazz musicians Madison has to offer. Come experience the sounds of summer in Madison.

 

Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra $2,468 for WYSO's Steenbock Family Fall Concert Series
The Evelyn Steenbock Fall Concerts serve as the first performances of the WYSO season, in which their diverse group of young musicians can display their talents and reap the rewards of their hard work. The Steenbock Concerts series is dedicated to private and school music teachers, who will be honored for their great efforts in advancing music education.


Girls Rock Camp Madison $2,100 for Girls Rock Camp Madison

Girls Rock Camp Madison is a one-week day camp for girls ages 8-18 where campers learn an instrument, write a song, form a band, record in a professional recording studio, then rock out in front of hundreds of screaming fans at a showcase. GRC Madison’s mission is to support a culture of positive self-esteem and collaboration among girls while building community through music.

 

LunART Festival $2,566 for LunART Festival 2018

The LunART Festival vision is to bring women together in a creative capacity with a mission is to support, inspire, promote, and celebrate women in the arts through public performances, exhibitions, workshops, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Doing so enriches our community and creates a welcoming space for learning and experimentation.

 

Dane Dances $2,100 for Dane Dances

In its 19th season, Dane Dances is now one of the premier trademark summer activities in Dane County that brings together live music and dancing. It is also recognized as the most successful volunteer community effort at promoting diversity and bringing people of all ages, racial and ethnic backgrounds and incomes together.

 

Capitol City Band Association $1,250 for Special celebration concert (and rehearsal) highlighting the milestone achievement 50th season concerts in the park

Capitol City Band to play 50th celebration concert for 50th season of concerts in the park. There's music for everyone, affordable (free) and accessible (on- and off-street parking).

 

Wisconsin Union Theater $2,100 for Isthmus Jazz Festival 2018

The Isthmus Jazz Festival, now in its 31st year, is re-imaged in 2018 as a week-long celebration of jazz in venues throughout the city, bookended by headlining performances on Memorial Union Terrace. 

 

Middleton Community Orchestra $2,100 for Fall and Holiday Concerts 2018

Performed by outstanding, amateur musicians from Dane County in collaboration with some of classical music’s brightest stars who have ties to the area, MCO's Fall and Holiday Concerts are affordable, accessible community events perfect for audiences of ALL ages.

 

Friend of Allen Centennial Gardens $1,510 for Summer Sundays in the Garden 2018

In its third season in 2018, Madison’s new concert series, Summer Sundays in the Garden, offers jazz and classical chamber music on alternating Sunday afternoons beginning with the summer solstice and concluding with the autumnal equinox, June through September.   Free and open to the public, the series takes place in the inspiring natural surrounds of the English Garden at Allen Centennial Gardens, and features the area’s best local musicians with occasional outside guest artists. 

 

Token Creek Festival $2,500 for Token Creek Chamber Music Festival 2018

The late-season garden inspires Token Creek's 2018 Festival: Harvest. We’ll explore themes of risk, patience, experimentation, disappointment, and finally amazement at the resulting abundance, nourishment and variety.  Three persistent strands will again be woven into our season: Bach cantatas, Haydn trios, Schubert-Schumann songs for voice and piano – all works for small spaces, about community, about gathering together as a source of enlightenment, support, celebration, solace—and harvest. 

 

MAMA Inc. $2,100 for 2018 Madison Area Music Association Awards Show

The Madison Area Music Association (MAMA) Annual Awards show is a Grammy-style event which recognizes the efforts of local musicians, music business professionals and educators.

 

PEBOGA $1,120 for 2nd Annual Next Level Artists Showcase

Next Level Artists Showcase is a free one-day outdoor music event that serves as a platform for a cross section of music genres (i.e. R&B, Pop, Smooth Jazz, etc.) featuring primarily local artists. Next Level Artists Showcase is designed to provide high quality promotional exposure to aspiring local artists while serving as a family and community event.

 

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society $2,882 for 2018 Summer Chamber Music Festival, "Toy Stories"

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society combines musicians from around the country, varied repertoire, and delightful surprises to create "serious fun." In 12 concerts and four free community events, our 27th season, "Toy Stories," will feature well-loved traditional and thrilling contemporary music presented to some of the best audiences around! 

 

Sun Prairie Public Library $500 for Sun Prairie Public Library Live Music Series

The Sun Prairie Public Library Live Music Series is a free concert series that is designed to increase musical awareness and enrich the lives of Sun Prairie community members and Dane County residents, highlighting a diversity of performance types, musical genres, cultural histories and traditions.

 

Fresco Opera Theater $980 for Garage Opera

Fresco takes opera from the concert stage and brings it to you, performing the classics in your neighborhood! As the garage door opens, sit back and enjoy the art so many have for hundreds of years - without leaving the comfort of your community! Garage Opera is portable, without sacrifice.

 

Madison Music Collective $2,290 for InDIGenous Jazz Fall 2018 Concert Series: Showcasing Music Composed and Performed by Local Jazz Musicians

The InDIGenous Jazz series presents new, original music composed and performed by local jazz musicians and in a wide variety of jazz styles. Each concert is two hour-long sets, plus a Q&A session with performers. Previous concerts have been enthusiastically received and audience sizes continue to increase.

 

Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra $2,030 for Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra 2018 Season

The Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra is a free summer festival ensemble dedicated to providing an intensive small orchestra experience for advanced high school and college musicians. Founded in 2010 by Music Director Mikko Rankin Utevsky, the orchestra prepares two full programs each summer, culminating in public concerts.

 

North/Eastside Senior Collation $1,150 for 2018 Summer concert Series in Warner Park

Enjoy free, live music for the whole family at the 24th Annual Summer Concert Series at Warner Park Shelter. Enjoy the sounds of local bands in this relaxed, intimate setting.

 

Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center $2,100 for Le Fete de Marquette

Bonjour and welcome to La Fete de Marquette, Madison's favorite summer music festival! Games and activities for families, plus good food and great drink all set the scene for 20 performers from around the globe during this four peak days of summer (July 12-15). At Milton McPike Park (202 S. Ingersoll Street).

 

Handel Aria Competition $1,342 for Handel Aria Competition

The Handel Aria Competition is an annual event held in Madison, Wisconsin to promote the performance and appreciation of Handel's extensive vocal repertoire. Founders Dean and Orange Schroeder are enthusiasts of George Frideric Handel's music and lifelong supporters of the arts.

 

Marquette Neighborhood Association $1,176 for Marquette Waterfront Festival's Cottonwood Stage

A 5th-year feature of the popular Marquette Waterfront Festival, the Cottonwood Stage is a unique opportunity to combine the fun and informality of an outdoor festival with the intimacy of a small venue. It offers Madisonians of all ages a chance to experience a deeper range of sounds and learn about different facets of music, especially quieter and subtler music that might not work on a festival mainstage.

 

Make Music Madison $648 for Make Music Madison

Performed by anyone, enjoyed by everyone, Make Music Madison is a free, citywide, outdoor celebration of community through music, held annually on the summer solstice.  

 

Madison Bach Musicians $2,200 for Madison Bach Musicians October 5 & 6 concerts "Music of Bach & Handel" and October 9 educational outreach events at Emerson Elementary and Music con Brio

Madison Bach Musicians will open its 15th season with a baroque quartet performing two concerts dedicated to the music of Bach and Handel. On October 9, MBM will perform and discuss selections from this repertoire for a school assembly at Emerson Elementary on Madison's near-east side. After the assembly, MBM players will conduct a workshop with music violin, cello, and keyboard students enrolled in the Music Con Brio program.

 

Madison Early Music Festival $1,300 for Madison Early Music Festival 2018

The Madison Early Music Festival (MEMF) offers a week of workshops, concerts, and lectures open to musicians and classical music lovers. In 2018, MEMF will highlight A Cabinet of Curiosities: Journey to Lübeck, a theme exploring how the 16th century Reformation’s shifts in religion, culture, and texts changed the world.

 

Arohana School of Music $2,040 for Midwest Melharmony Festival - A Multicultural Festival Featuring Dance and Music from the 15th Century Onwards!

A multicultural event of artistic, cultural, and historic significance, the Melharmony Festival will center around the work of four composers across different genres: Arunagirunathar (c 1400), Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840), Gustav Holst (1874-1934), and Chitravina N Ravikiran (1967). Performers will include Creator of Melharmony/Slide-Instrumentalist Maestro Chitravina N Ravikiran, Apollo Chamber Players, and the community-at-large!

 

Urban Community Arts Network, Ltd $1,177 for For the Love of Hip-Hop Summer Concert Series

Urban Community Arts Network, Ltd. is hosting For the Love of Hip-Hop, a free, outdoor summer concert series featuring all local artists. The aim of this series is to create performance opportunities for Dane County Hip-Hop artists and to expose the community to the vibrant Hip-Hop culture in Dane County.

 

Madison Blues Society $993 for 16th Annual Blues Picnic

The Madison Blues Society will hold its 16th Annual Blues Picnic is a free and family-friendly event featuring 5 blues bands (local, regional, and a headliner), plus a performance by the "Blues Kids," in celebration of an art form both universal in appeal and uniquely American in origin.

 

Short Order

 

Katherine Steichen Rosing (individual artist) $400 for Generations Lost (Forest Installation)

Generations Lost is an immersive installation inviting a timeless journey through a white forest of suspended ghostlike trees, towering graphite drawings with detailed leaf patterns reminding us of the beauty and necessity of wild and urban forests under threat from changing environmental conditions.

 

Theater

 

Oregon Straw Hat Players, $609 for Hello, Dolly!

Oregon Straw Hat Players presents Hello, Dolly!, the high-spirited and uplifting musical comedy that asks each of us to step forward and join the parade of life. Hello Dolly! Is based on Thornton Wilder's play The Matchmaker and carries the same themes as the play by calling the characters to live a fuller life. 

 

Music Theatre of Madison $918 for LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Music Theatre of Madison will present the Wisconsin premiere of the musical Little Miss Sunshine as it is performed, directed, and designed by a cast of Madison artists and providing opportunities for students ages 8-18 to work with adult professionals. The musical, adapted from the Oscar-winning film of the same name, tells the story of a dysfunctional family who band together when quirky, 10-year-old Olive wants to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.

 

Music Theatre of Madison $1,320 for Beyond the Ingenue

Beyond the Ingenue will showcase musical theatre pieces that illustrate women's issues beyond those of traditional male/female romances.  Stories and ideas addressed will include female empowerment, motherhood, workplace issues, female friendships, gender issues, and more. The revue will travel to venues across Dane County and offer “Pay What You Can" performances.  

 

Strollers Theatre $900 for Infamous Mothers

This world premiere is a stage adaptation of "Infamous Mothers" by local author Sagashus T. Levingston, chronicling the oral histories of 20 women. "We're not your average good girls", Levingston writes. "We are survivors of domestic abuse and sexual trauma. But don't call us damsels in distress."

 

Forward Theater $2,625 for SKELETON CREW and its accompanying art exhibit

Forward Theater Company opens its 10th Anniversary season with Dominique Morisseau's poignant new play SKELETON CREW. Performances at the Playhouse in Overture Center and will be accompanied by extensive community engagement activities including an art exhibit: "After the Closing: The Faces of Oscar Mayer Employees."

 

Madison Savoyards $1,313 for Die Fledermaus, or The Bat

Madison Savoyards, Ltd. expands its program offerings beyond the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas to present a light comic opera by Johann Strauss II: Die Fledermaus, or The Bat.  Sung in English, this high-spirited operetta contains themes of struggle between the social classes, brotherhood and love in a modernized setting.  

 

Stage Q $812 for Queer Shorts Unity

In hopes of contributing to the unification of the LGBTQ community during such uncertain times, this year's theme is Unity.  This latest installment of Queer Shorts will seek to illuminate our queer community with its amazing diversity through stories of pride, honor, history and sacrifice.

 

Fermat’s Last Theater Company $449 for The Many Trials of Bertolt Brecht

In an era concerned about privacy and free speech, this play takes a look back at the House Un-American activities Committee and it's 1947 questioning of actors, playwrights and poets.  Bertolt Brecht was called before the Committee and delivered a masterful performance - and left the country the next day.

 

 

Wisconsin Veterans Museum $1,250 for Talking Spirits XX Cemetery Tours

This award-winning living history programs illuminates the lives of many prominent and lesser known-figures in Wisconsin history. In honor of the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War I, 2018 tours will focus on the contributions of Wisconsin’s soldiers and citizens during the Civil War and World War I.

 

Visual Arts

 

Bayview Foundation $2,000 for The Community Totems Project 

Approximately 100 Bayview residents and volunteers will design and create a series of ceramic community totems in collaboration with teaching artist Brian Kluge. The totems will beautify Bayview property while showcasing imagery representative of the diverse cultures, traditions and histories of Bayview residents. 

 

Madison Parks Foundation $2,058 for Makeshift Festival

Makeshift Festival is an annual celebration of art, food, and public spaces held in a different Madison park each year. The temporary pop-up exhibition brings art and food from throughout the Midwest to Dane County for visitors of all ages to enjoy in Madison's green spaces. 

 

VSA Wisconsin $800 for Art Sparks Success: VSA Wisconsin at Art Fair on the Square

VSA Wisconsin will exhibit nearly 200 artworks by approximately 30 Wisconsin artists with disabilities at Madison's annual Art Fair on the Square. Event attendees will be able to view and purchase these works and meet contributing artists in person.

 

Madison Museum of Contemporary Art $2,625 for Joel Shapiro: The Bronzes

MMoCA will present an exhibition of one of the most influential sculptors working today. Joel Shapiro: The Bronzes will survey this American artist’s output in cast bronze from 1983 to present. The exhibition will feature seventeen major bronze sculptures that trace the evolution of the artist’s work.

 

Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, & Letters $1,360 for Plants & Place: Vanishing Flora in the Age of Climate Change

Plants & Place: Vanishing Flora in the Age of Climate Change, a group exhibition at the James Watrous Gallery, will feature Wisconsin artists focused on botanical subjects and regional ecosystems. In consultation with scientists and citizen groups engaged in protecting native landscapes and local species, each artist will create new work highlighting the impact of climate change on our state's plant communities. 

 

Waunakee Community Foundation $1,313 for Waunakee Area Sculpture Project

The project's concept is to commission, design, fabricate and install a major sculpture art work to celebrate excellence in education, and honor all teachers and staff, both public and private, in the Waunakee Community School District (WCSD). 

 

Farley Center for Peace, Justice and Sustainability $435 for Sanctuary 2018

Sanctuary 2018: Art and nature come together as a land art exhibition installed at the Farley Center for Peace, Justice and Sustainability in 2017 is revisited and re-imagined through this provocative photographic journey. Sixteen area artists created art in the woods with a view to increasing our sensibility towards our environment.

 

Arts Literature Laboratory $1,313 for 2018 Solo/Small Group Emerging Artist Exhibitions

In 2018, ALL will present solo and small group exhibitions by local emerging artists including the feminist artist collective SPOOKY BOOBS COLLECTIVE, a group of black female artists from Wisconsin, Madison artist Ariel Wood, and two emerging artists selected to represent Dane County in Bridge Work 4.

 

Veteran Print Project $2,000 for In Good Company, Works from Emerging Veteran Artists

In Good Company, Works from Emerging Veteran Artists, will function as a month-long showcase of Veteran Art. Artists from around the country are invited to participate in multiple exhibitions of work that will saturate the city of Madison, Wisconsin for the month of November 2018.

 

Capital Grants

 

Verona Area Community Theater $1,165 for VACT Microphone Replacement

To be compliant with new FCC regulations, the Verona Area Community Theater (VACT) needs to replace five microphones.  VACT produces 10 high quality productions each year with attendance of over 8,600 in 2014.  Wireless microphones are used to amplify the actors across all ages (5-85 years old). VACT's audience is from across Dane county - as productions are high-quality and affordable.

 

Mount Horeb Landmarks Foundation, Inc. $1,000 for District #1 Schoolhouse Restoration

The Mount Horeb Landmarks Foundation is restoring the District #1 Schoolhouse, the oldest remaining school in the village, and it is again a gathering place for residents of the village and visitors to enjoy through living history experiences, and social and educational events. 

 

Capitol City Band Association $950 for Two portable Stagehand 4x8x24/32 platforms to match existing stage units and two 3-step stairways to access the new platforms

Summer 2018 - 50th season - concerts in the park. In the interest of safety, Capitol City Band Association needs to purchase two 4x8x32" platforms with access stairs that securely connect to the existing Stagehand stage units to accommodate the percussion section and for the trombone section.

 

Madison Circus Space $2,000 for Madison Circus Space Floor

The Madison Circus Space is requesting $3,000 for the purchase of roll-out mats to be used in the current space, then temporary location (during demolition and construction), and finally, the new permanent building.

 

Fermat’s Last Theater Company $138 for Fermat’s Podcasting Project – Year Two

The Fermat Theater Company is requesting $138 to improve quality and flexibility. Having four mid-range microphones and headsets will allow for better audio when more than one voice is on a podcast.  The USB hub is necessary to connect all the devices to the laptop.  Editing out background noise and adding music and alternate cuts of a reading are straight forward with the Audicity software. 

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