Vermont Business MagazineThe Vermont Arts Endowment Fund and the Concert Artists Fund, two component funds at the Vermont Community Foundation, announced that together they have awarded a total of $111,770 to 34 artists and arts organizations across the state.The Vermont Arts Endowment Fund awarded grants totaling $57,700 primarily to support the commissioning, creation, and presentation of new work or to assist Vermont artists wishing to take their work in new or different directions.Eleven awards were made to individual artists and 12 to arts organizations presenting the work of Vermont artists. The Concert Artists Fund awarded $54,070 to 11 organizations to support performances of classical music in Chittenden County.
The following grants were made in 2015:
Vermont Arts Endowment Fund 2015 Grants to Individual Artists
A2VTin Burlington received $2,000 to support the recording of A2VT’s second album.
Angela Pattenin Burlington received $2,000 to support a collection of original poems and anecdotes, tentatively titledThe Oriole and the Ovenbird, that will celebrate the primal interplay between humans and avian species in our lives and imaginations.
Carole Vasta Folleyin Essex Junction received $3,000 to support an eight-theater tour ofThe Seymour Sisters, a new play.
Carolyn Enz Hackin Thetford Center received $2,500 to support the creation of paintings and sculptures for an exhibit entitledRural Abstract.
Deb Ellis and Alexandra Halkinin Burlington received $2,000 to supportEnd of Lovea feature-length documentary film about the epidemic of young men being convicted of downloading child pornography.
Diana Whitneyin Brattleboro received $2,000 to supportSalad Days: Desire, Poetry, and Motherhood, a series of lyric poems examining the intersection of art and domesticity.
Kathleen Kolb and Verandah Porchein Lincoln and Guilford received $2,000 to supportShedding Light on the Working Foresta traveling exhibition based on paintings Kolb has created on this subject over the past twenty years.
Kerrin McCaddenin Plainfield received $2,000 to supportStreet View, a collection of poems, in progress, about village life in Vermont and Ireland.
Lida Winfieldin Shelburnereceived $3,000 to supportIMAGINARY, a community-based dance/theater performance in which volunteer participants will assume each others’ identities, blurring the line as to whose story belongs to whom and challenging how we perceive the reality and identity of others.
Miriam Bernardo with Peg Tasseyin Montpelier received $3,000 to support the creation, recording, and performance of new, original music written specifically for Miriam’s voice by ten of Vermont’s most accomplished and highly regarded songwriters. The songs will be produced by musician/producer Peg Tassey.
Seth Jarvisin Burlington received $2,000 to supportSecure the Perimeter!, an over-the-top theatrical comedy intended as a celebration of stagecraft.
Vermont Arts Endowment Fund 2015 Grants to Arts Organizations
Catamount Film & Artsin St. Johnsbury received $3,000 to supportFire and Ice, a 2016 exhibition of paintings by internationally recognized Vermont landscape painter Eric Aho and related programming, and outreach to engage a regional and national audience.
Flynn Center for the Performing Artsin Burlington received $3,250 to support the presentation ofthe diverse work of Vermont-based performing artists and visual artists throughout the 2015-2016 season.
Middlebury Actors Workshopreceived $1,500 to support a professional production ofThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigoldsby Paul Zindel at Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater.
Sandglass Theaterin Putney received $3,250 to support “Wrecked,” a theater/puppetry/music piece about the denial of scientific truth by those who profit from that denial.
Scrag Mountain Music, Inc.in Marshfield received $2,500 to support its first opera,The Diaries of Adam and Eve,composed in 2006 by Vermont composer Evan Premo and will feature Vermont soprano Mary Bonhag.
Shelburne Museumreceived $2,000 to supportEyes on the Land, an exhibitionfeaturing new works from thirteen Vermont artists and photographers using as their inspiration land conserved by Vermont Land Trust throughout the state.
The Vermont Granite Museum of Barrereceived $3,000 to support the carving and installation a granite sculpture archway to create a formal entrance way to the sculpture park.
Vermont International Film Foundationin Burlington received $2,500 to support the exhibition, promotion, and archiving of Vermont films for posterity.
Vermont Performance Labin Guilford received $3,650 to support the SEED Program which
supports Vermont artists in the commissioning, development, and presentation of new dance work.
Vermont Shakespeare Companyin North Hero received $1,500 to support a presentation ofRomeo and Julietwith performances in North Hero, Shelburne, and Burlington; additionally the season includes a Professional Internship Program serving 15 area high school and college students.
Vermont Stage Companyin Burlington received $3,050 to support the Vermont premiere ofTribes, a provocative new play, directed by Mark Alan Gordon, about a deaf boy who teaches his family to be better communicators.
Vermont Studio Centerin Johnson received $3,000 to support Vermont Artists Weekwhich offers VT artists and writers the opportunity to immerse themselves in their studio practice, share their creative work with others, and establish networks throughout the state.
Concert Artists Fund 2015 Grants
Bella Voce Women's Chorusin Essex Junction received $4,000 to support a joint commission with two Canadian Women’s Choruses including “Feast of Carols” holiday concerts and world music focused “Heart Songs” concerts in May 2016.
Capital City Concerts (CCC)in Montpelier received $5,000 to support a series of three CCC performances by the Drucker/Cooper/Walsh Trio at Saint Paul’s Cathetral and one concert at the Elle-Long Center by the CCC orchestra.
Flynn Center for the Performing Artsreceived $7,000 to support collaborative projects between the Flynn Center, the Vermont Youth Orchestra, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall's Weill Institute, Soovin Kim, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival Trio in Residence, and the Ying Quartet that will engage schools and community with classical music in three separate concerts.
Green Mountain Chamber Music Festivalin Burlington received $4,500 to support its 2016 Concert Series which will comprise seven faculty concerts at the UVM Recital Hall, including works from the chamber canon and music by composers such as Evan Chambers and Missy Mazzoli.
Green Mountain Monteverdi Ensemble of Vermontin Montpelier received $1,000 to support a professional-quality perfomance of musical musical settings ofLamentations of Jeremiahand related texts by Tallis, Couperin, Charpentier, and J.C. Bach.
Music-COMPin Essex Junction received $4,000 to support two Chittenden County area concerts which will be held featuring live performances of student composed works with special promotion to those not accustomed to attending classical concerts.
Solaris Vocal Ensemblein Essex Junction received $3,000 to support two classical concerts in their 2015-2016 season: “Sing Noel!” with guest harpist Rebecca Kauffman and “In Full Bloom” featuring organist Susan Summerfield.
University of Vermont Lane Seriesin Burlington received $7,000 to support classical programming on young artists that focuses on young artists under the age of 32 who are devoted to upholding the classical tradition while engaging audiences in a fresh and exciting way.
Vermont Choral Unionin Essex Junction received $2,070 to support a project designed to increase the audience for a cappella choral music by providing subsidized tickets and transportation to Vermont Choral Union Concerts, particularly for seniors and families who might not otherwise be able to afford to attend a concert.
Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemblein Fairfax received $6,500 to support three programs featuring music composed in response to poetry, Schoenberg’sPierrot Lunaire, and a major commission by Vermont composer Thomas Lawrence Read with works by other Vermont and New England composers.
The Vermont Youth Orchestra Association (VYO)in Colchester received $10,000 to support its 2015-2016 concert season, which will provide young musicians, including senior soloists, with the opportunity to perform great works by prominent European and American composers, a Music-COMP premiere, and a choral collaboration with five area high school choruses.
The Vermont Community Foundation is a family of hundreds of funds and foundations established by Vermonters to serve their charitable goals. It provides the advice, investment vehicles, and back-office expertise to make giving easy and effective. The Foundation also provides leadership in giving by responding to community needs, mobilizing and connecting philanthropists to multiply their impact, and by keeping Vermont’s nonprofit sector vital with grants and other investments in the community.
Visitwww.vermontcf.orgor call802-388-3355for more information.