Major Venture Category

$20,500 South Bend Civic Theatre’s Theatre for Young Audiences Program. The program has been up and running almost year and a half with great results—student enrollment in classes has increased dramatically, partnerships have taken root, and the school touring company launched a year earlier than planned.

$100,000 paid at $50,000 a year for two years to Fischoff National Chamber Music Association. Fischoff will present the Euclid Quartet in a series of 14 programs in Mishawaka's 6 elementary schools, middle school, and high school during the next 2 academic years. This two-year residency will introduce chamber music to the elementary schools through Fischoff's “Stories and Music” (or S.A.M. I Am) program as well as enhance and build the strings programs at the 6 elementary schools, John Young Middle School and Mishawaka High School. Fischoff also plans to use half of the grant funds each year to establish an endowment fund to assist with the sustainability of their residency efforts.

Program/Project Category

$10,000 payable $5,000 a year for two years to WNIT Public Television. Funds will support the popular classic film series, Front Row Center. The series showcases the works of master filmmakers from Hitchcock to Scorcese, from Oscar winners to overlooked gems.

$5,000 to the South Bend Chamber Singers of Saint Mary's College to support the 20th Anniversary concert season. Four new choral compositions will be performed during the season. The choir is comprised of thirty-three local and regional individuals and has received much recognition for its high quality work.

$5,000 to the South Bend Heritage Foundation for the annual exhibitions of the Colfax Campus Gallery. The gallery will host 6-7 exhibitions featuring local artists, minority artists, regional artists with a vision of social justice, student artists from the 10 Intermediate schools in the South Bend and local arts organizations. The Colfax space has high traffic from its tenants and other community groups that use its meeting space.

$5,000 to Indiana University South Bend for the publication of a four-book series by the Wolfson Press focusing on race relations, civil rights, and African American History in South Bend. Each book is by a local author and will be edited by Lester Lamon.

$4,300 to Indiana University South Bend the Raclin School of the Arts for a concert being coordinated by new Dean Dr. Marvin Curtis during February 2009. This concert titled "Lift Every Voice...Celebrating the African American Spirit" will bring together the traditions of Western classical music and African American music.

$2,500 to Historic New Carlisle for a mural to be painted in downtown New Carlisle. The mural will include vignettes and scenes of people and places that were and are important to the history and development of New Carlisle and surrounding area.

$1,750 to the Conservatory of Dance Company, Inc. to support their spring production of Sleeping Beauty on May 1st and 2nd, 2009. The grant will cover the cost of securing a principal male lead in the ballet and the rental cost of backdrops.

$3,000 to Downtown South Bend for Art Beat 2008

$3,000 to Vesper Chorale, Inc. for the Children's Choir of Michiana

$3,350 to Conservatory of Dance School and Company for the addition of a new dance production entitled Contemporary Nutcracker: Fairy Tale for the Modern World

$3,600 to the Robinson Community Learning Center of the University of Notre Dame for a summer Shakespeare Drama Club serving 15 inner-city youth between the ages of 10-15

$5,000 to the South Bend Symphony Orchestra for the 2009 Young People's Discovery Concerts in March 2009 titled “Kids, Camera & Classics”

$5,000 to the South Bend Museum of Art toward the purchase of a new gas kiln to continue to expand ceramics classes for the community.

$5,000 to Fire Arts for the purchase and repair of the kiln from South Bend Regional Museum of Art and for expenses related to electrical and gas work needed to prepare space for the new equipment.

$5,000 to the South Bend Area Links for Gospel Fest 2008 at Washington High School on August 9, 2008.

$5,000 to the South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestras to support its Sectional Coaching Program.