Major Venture Category

$150,000 payable $50,000 a year over three years to the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at Indiana University South Bend. 

Among the Raclin School’s world-class faculty artists are pianist Alexander Toradze, the Euclid String Quartet, and many others.  Under the leadership of new Dean Marvin Curtis, the school’s outreach and visibility has grown.  The school attracts a competitive student body, but lacks adequate rehearsal and performance facilities in Northside Hall, which is over 30 years old.  This grant will help upgrade its Recital Hall and Upstage or Black Box Theatre to better serve students and faculty and to enhance the cultural experiences for the local public who attend dozens of campus performance events annually.

Program/Project Category

$2,500.00 to Vesper Chorale for musician fees for their concerts in November and December 2010.  The first is a free performance at the Kern Road Mennonite Church and the second is their annual holiday concert.  The pieces at these concerts include special appearances for a brass quintet, a harpist, an organist and South American folk instruments played by regional Latino musicians.

$3,500 to Patchwork Dance Company for their holiday production of Christopher's Christmas.  Funds will help with costs of costumes, venue, production and technical fees, and the ability to provide very low cost student tickets.  Last year, almost 3,000 children and adults attended the annual performance.

$4,000 to Conservatory of Dance School for their winter production of Contemporary Nutcracker: A Fairy Tale for the Modern World.  Funds will help cover venue, guest artist, and backdrop expenses for the production.  The performances will feature Company members and students, and also students from the Conservatory’s After School Outreach program reaching underserved children.

$4,195 to Southold Dance Theater to purchase materials to create a portable stage to be used as an outdoor venue for outreach performances.  Through the creation of a suitable performance space at area parks, Southold Dance Theater will be able to build a larger, more visible role by developing new audiences and diversifying performance offerings.

$4,500 to South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestras for its Sectional Coaching Program. Within the coaching program, the over 100 youth symphony members receive coaching by professional musicians within their instrument groups every week at rehearsal. The orchestras practice over 20 times a year and hold three public concerts at IUSB.

$5,000 to Fire Arts to assist with replacement of furnaces and air conditioning.  Fire Arts provides unique studio space and opportunities for local 3-dimensional artists.  They offer exhibitions, workshops, student summer programs and lecture tours. 

$5,000 to the Hannah Lindahl Children's Museum to duplicate the special exhibition "Children of the Holocaust: Children in Crisis Reflecting on Children in Crisis".  The original exhibition was created by students of School City of Mishawaka’s alternative school program for residents at the Family & Children’s Center.  These students often face challenges due to abuse, neglect, depression, substance abuse or other circumstances.  Due to their own life experiences, these young people brought a very unique perspective to their reflection on the children of the Holocaust through artwork and poetry.  Duplicating the exhibition will allow this powerful work to travel to sites within our community and beyond.

$5,000 to South Bend Museum of Art for the exhibition titled “Surface Tension: Tradition and Innovation in Contemporary Painting.”  The exhibition will include work by some of this country’s most innovative and beloved contemporary artists.  The focus is on painting, emphasizing the diversity of approaches, effects and imagery possible within this age-old medium.  Visitors will be able to compare and contrast the various approaches to painting, and, thereby, deepen their understanding of contemporary American art.  The Museum estimates that over 3,000 individuals will view the exhibition.

Two grants were also made to Downtown South Bend:

$5,000 to support the 8th year of Art Beat.  Art Beat is a free, downtown South Bend stroll along the streets and sidewalks featuring the work of local visual, musical, performing and culinary artists.  This year’s event will take place on Saturday, August 28th and will include expansion to provide two large professional stages for performing artists and bands. 

$3,000 to support the 2010 Red Table Plaza Lunchtime Concert Series.  This free outdoor series runs eight weeks with local musicians performing at lunch time for two hours in the heart of downtown South Bend.  The majority of the funds go to artist stipends of the acoustical musicians and songwriters.