Here’s the news from the Lane Arts Council:

Lane Arts Council announces grants totalling $63,800 to recipients in three grant categories — Community Arts Programs, Community Arts Projects,  and individual Artists — to support artists, arts projects, and arts organizations in the Eugene area.

The Community Arts grants and Artist grant programs are funded by the City of Eugene Cultural Services Division and administered by Lane Arts Council.

Community Arts Program grants

This year, the goal of the Community Arts Program Grant is to support nonprofit arts organizations in their strategic development and organizational goal fulfillment. The purpose of the Community Arts Program Grant is to sustain Eugene’s vibrant and diverse arts-and-culture community.

The following 10 small- to mid-sized community arts 501(c)(3) organizations have been chosen to receive funds for operating support:

  • Community Center for the Performing Arts
  • DanceAbility International
  • DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon
  • Eugene Contemporary Art
  • Eugene-Springfield Youth Orchestra
  • Maude Kerns Art Center
  • Music Education & Performing Artists Association (MEPAA)
  • Oregon Contemporary Theatre
  • Pacific International Choral Festival (picfest)
  • Very Little Theatre

(Examples of the arts program grants include supporting the Music Education & Performing Artists Association to help pay for instructional staff and mentor artists at its newly opened music and arts center, and  to assist Eugene Contemporary Art with funds for its program director and executive director positions.)

Community Arts Project grants

The Community Arts Project Grant helps to support individuals, collectives, and organizations with projects that emphasize accessibility to under-served audiences and to provide programming that takes place in Eugene. These projects include artist marketplaces, educational programs, theater productions, and musical performances.

The following eight groups were chosen to receive this year’s Community Arts Project Grant funds:

  • Free Shakespeare in the Park
  • La Clave
  • Music’s Edge Rock Camp
  • Oregon Supported Living Program, Arts & Culture Program
  • SLUG Queens
  • Willamette Jazz Society
  • Whiteaker Community Market
  • Wordcrafters in Eugene

(Examples of these grant awards include the Willamette Jazz Society, to help the group present jazz concerts throughout the month of July in the new Farmers Market Pavilion in downtown Eugene, and to support Wordcrafters in Eugene’s Write Club, a series of monthly workshops for young writers as they explore different forms of creative writing.)

Artist grants

Artist Grants provide financial support to individual artists to pursue a new creative endeavor (project), invest in their artistic development (process), or bolster artistic business capacity (progress) to advance their career.

Seven local artists even artists have been awarded these grants:

  • Karin Clarke
  • Valentina Gonzalez
  • Suzanne Haag
  • John P. Harn
  • Nicole Marie Hummel
  • Kum Ja Lee
  • Katsuyuki Shibata

(Examples of these grants are Katsuyuki Shibata, who will assemble a photography exhibit of large print landscapes in Oregon, the Northwest, and beyond, and Valentina Gonzalez, to help her acquire technical equipment for The Heritage Project, her exploration of the way that many artists — including her father — used their talents to inspire radical social change during the 1973 U.S.-led coup in Chile.)

About the Lane Arts Council

Lane Arts Council, founded in 1976, is a nonprofit organization that works to cultivate strong and creative arts communities throughout Lane County by providing high-quality arts experiences, engaging people of all ages in arts education, and encouraging artistic endeavors. Learn more at lanearts.org