State Council on the Arts Grants $881,010 at December Meeting

The Alabama State Council on the Arts awarded 158 grants totaling $881,010 to 136 grantees across the state. Organizations providing public programs in arts education, folk arts, community arts, literary arts, dance, music, theatre, and visual art forms received support through this competitive process. Folk Arts Apprenticeships were also awarded, funding traditional arts teachers and their students.

Support for arts programming is critical for a vibrant creative community, which results in a thriving economy, a workforce ready for innovation, and a high quality of life for all residents. However, the needs of the arts sector are much greater than the Council has the ability to meet, with the requested amount in this grant cycle totaling $1.4 million.

Council Chairman Jim Harrison III stated, “Sustaining Alabama’s arts organizations during this incredibly difficult period shows the commitment of the Council to building a thriving art and culture field. Our people are hurting, with significantly reduced audiences and revenues. These grants keep the arts in Alabama on track to be an essential part of every community.”

Dr. Elliot Knight, Executive Director, noted the sixteen Folk Arts Apprenticeship grants, “which provide a pathway for traditional arts to be learned, embraced, and carried on by the next generation. The Council is steadfast in promoting arts organizations at the cutting edge of creative thinking, as well as the traditional cultural arts that are part of our shared history.”

Funding for the Council on the Arts is provided by the Alabama State Legislature and the National Endowment of the Arts, a federal agency. Chaired by Jim Harrison III of Tuscaloosa, the Council is comprised of 15 Governor-appointed members. The staff that administer the grants program also provide technical assistance in arts planning and programming, under the leadership of Executive Director Elliot Knight.

Grants will be awarded again in June 2021. The next deadline for grant applications is March 1 for individual artist and arts educator fellowships and grants for planning, design, and construction of cultural facilities.

For more information about the Council, or grants that have been awarded, see arts.alabama.gov. Name City County Grant Title Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Birmingham Jefferson $7,500 Wednesday Night by Shona Arts, UAB McAndrew Alabama Alliance for Arts Education Montgomery Montgomery $7,700 Unsung Heroes in History Alabama Communities of Excellence Montgomery Montgomery $2,000 Community Seeds: Greening Your Community Alabama Conference of Theatre Birmingham Jefferson $7,800 Expand Diversity, Equity & Access Alabama Contemporary Art Center Mobile Mobile $7,500 Independent Projects Program at ACAC Alabama Dance Council, Inc. Birmingham Jefferson $7,800 Dance Across Birmingham 2021 Alabama Dance Theatre Montgomery Montgomery $7,800 Community Days Ballet Class Open Houses Alabama Folklife Association Mobile Mobile $4,000 Engaging 4th Graders in Alabama Folklife Alabama Institute for Education in the Montgomery Montgomery $22,000 AIEA Summer Institute Arts Alabama Korea Education Economic Montgomery Montgomery $5,500 Korean Hanji 3D Partnership (AKEEP) Alabama Moving Image Association Birmingham Jefferson $7,500 23rd Annual Sidewalk Film Festival Alabama Orchestra Association Huntsville Madison $3,120 Alabama All State Orchestra Festival 21 Alabama Shakespeare Festival Montgomery Montgomery $7,800 Special Pandemic Outreach Program Alabama State University Foundation, Inc Montgomery Montgomery $15,600 Dept of Theatre Virtual Acting Series Alabama State University Foundation, Inc Montgomery Montgomery $7,800 Virtual Dance Internships Alabama Woodworkers Guild, Inc. Birmingham Shelby $7,800 Artistic Decision Making in Woodworking Ars Nova Incorporated Huntsville Madison $15,600 Harmony and Hope Arts Revive-CDC / Fiscal agent for Paul Selma Dallas $7,500 Fill in the Blank Barrett Arts Revive-CDC Selma Dallas $5,500 Programming Director Internship Auburn City Schools Auburn Lee $1,900 We Can Write and Illustrate! Auburn University Osher Lifelong Auburn Lee $2,750 Margaret Renkl Reading and Craft Learning Inst. Talk Bennett, Loretta Huntsville Madison $2,700 Quilting Apprenticeship Bhakta, Amita Florence Lauderdale $2,700 Rangoli Apprenticeship Bib & Tucker Sew-Op Birmingham Jefferson $7,500 The March Quilts: Traveling Exhibition Bib & Tucker Sew-Op Birmingham Jefferson $7,500 Personnel support for QUARK Birmingham Chamber Music Society Mountain Jefferson $4,750 “Musicians from Marlboro” Brook concert & outreach Birmingham Children's Theatre Birmingham Jefferson $7,800 BCT Accessible for All Birmingham City Schools Birmingham Jefferson $2,700 Cell Phone Cinema Blackbelt Benefit Group Selma Dallas $5,500 First Saturday Music Series Blackbelt Benefit Group Selma Dallas $7,320 Public Workshops and Portrait Project Bounds, Sharon W. Northport Tuscaloosa $2,700 Old-Time Fiddling Apprenticeship Burkhalter, Sherry Newville Henry $2,000 Quilting Apprenticeship Carnegie Visual Arts Center / Fiscal agent Decatur Morgan $5,500 Fill in the Blanks for Paul Barrett Central Presbyterian Church Mobile Mobile $6,450 Exploring Plant Dyed Art CEPA Management Corporation Pell City St. Clair $7,500 Drama Club Performance Support CEPA Management Corporation Pell City St. Clair $7,500 Retention of Professional Arts Educator City of Auburn Auburn Lee $6,200 Adventures in Art City of Camden Camden Wilcox $6,000 Camden: Mural & Way-finding Signs City of Headland Headland Henry $5,200 Painting a Historic Mural City of Orange Beach--Coastal Arts Center Orange Beach Baldwin $7,100 Orange Beach Festival of Art City of Ozark / Ozark Leisure Services Ozark Dale $2,000 Annual Crawdad and Music Festival City of Sheffield Sheffield Colbert $7,500 SummerStock at the Ritz City of Winfield Pastime Theatre Winfield Marion $11,000 2021 Concert Season City of Winfield Pastime Theatre Winfield Marion $5,500 Salary for Event Coordinator/Manager Cloverdale Playhouse Montgomery Montgomery $15,600 3 productions, 2021 Mainstage Season Cloverdale Playhouse / Fiscal agent for Montgomery Montgomery $4,500 Creation of the Alabama Film Hub Angie Soule Coastal Alabama Community College Monroeville Monroe $7,000 The Monroeville Literary Festival Coffee County Arts Alliance Enterprise Coffee $6,000 Piney Woods Arts Festival #47 Create Birmingham Birmingham Jefferson $7,500 The Business of Creating Workshop Series CSFO Cullman County School Funds. Cullman Cullman $1,800 Virtual Life of Cats During a Pandemic Dance All Productions, Inc Huntsville Madison $7,800 Girls Like Us Outreach Through Dance Dance All Productions, Inc Huntsville Madison $7,800 Artistic Strategist Dance Levels Pinson Jefferson $4,100 Journey To Africa Dance Production Dauphin Island Heritage and Arts Council, Dauphin Island Mobile $4,000 Dauphin Island Native American Inc. Festival Eastern Shore Art Association, Inc Fairhope Baldwin $7,500 49th Annual Outdoor Art Show Support Eastern Shore Art Association, Inc Fairhope Baldwin $7,500 Marketing/Website Staff Salary Support Encore Opera Theatre Huntsville Madison $4,500 Gilbert and Sullivan in Rocket City Eufaula Heritage Association Eufaula Barbour $4,900 Music for the 56th Eufaula Pilgrimage Fantasy Playhouse Children's Theater Huntsville Madison $7,800 Support of Access & Inclusion Initiative Files Arts Project Birmingham Jefferson $7,500 Dance/Music Workshop with Performances Florence Arts and Museums Florence Lauderdale $1,500 Textile Art Map Foundation for Arts and Cultural Birmingham Jefferson $5,200 FACC Administrative Projects Connections, Inc. Friends Foundation of the Birmingham Birmingham Jefferson $3,500 Bards & Brews Spoken Word Public Library Poetry Series Friends of the Arts, Inc. Orange Beach Baldwin $2,650 Artist Awards and Volunteer Support Friends of the Freedom Rides Museum, Montgomery Montgomery $11,000 Freedom Ride 60th Anniversary Inc. Series Girls Rock Birmingham Birmingham Jefferson $11,300 Pay Local Artists to Teach Kids' Camp Gulf Coast Ethnic & Heritage Jazz Festival, Mobile Mobile $7,500 Preserving Jazz for Future Inc. Generations History Museum of Mobile Board Mobile Mobile $7,500 The Blossoming of Japanese Art Huntsville Community Chorus Association Huntsville Madison $4,500 Admin/Artistic Salary Support Huntsville Community Drumline Huntsville Madison $5,500 Free Youth Percussion & Music Instruction Huntsville Youth Orchestra Huntsville Madison $7,800 The Music Festival Jackson, Estelle Demopolis Marengo $2,700 Basket Weaving Apprenticeship Jemison Carnegie Foundation, Inc Talladega Talladega $7,100 Heritage Hall Arts Camp for Kids Jones, Marlene Bennett Boykin Wilcox $2,700 Quilting Apprenticeship Jubilee Community Center Montgomery Montgomery $1,000 Discover India through Dance Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Gallery Wetumpka Elmore $7,500 The Kelly Curator Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Gallery Wetumpka Elmore $4,800 Preserving the Kelly History Kentuck Museum Association Northport Tuscaloosa $15,000 2021: Mystic Cords of Memory Landmarks Foundation of Montgomery Montgomery Montgomery $4,420 Alabama Decorative Arts Symposium 2021 Magic City Smooth Jazz / Fiscal agent for Birmingham Jefferson $7,800 Still A Rose 4 Off/Online Concert Belinda George Peoples Arenas Marion County Board of Education Hamilton Marion $1,800 Together on Stage and Beyond Merrimack Hall Performing Arts Center Huntsville Madison $7,500 Staff Support for Merrimack Hall Miller, Hendon E. Brent Bibb $2,700 Folk Pottery Fellowship Mobile Arts Council Mobile Mobile $7,500 Mobile Arts Council Admin Support Mobile Medical Museum Mobile Mobile $12,750 Consolidated arts project 2021 Mobile Opera. Inc. Mobile Mobile $3,150 Strategic Development Mobile Symphony, Inc. Mobile Mobile $4,300 Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra – COVID-19 Protections Montgomery Civic Chorale Montgomery Montgomery $2,250 Montgomery Chorale Video Production Montgomery Civic Chorale Montgomery Montgomery $4,500 Montgomery Chorale 2020-2021 Season Montgomery Civic Chorale / Fiscal agent Montgomery Montgomery $3,560 OPERAtunity Montgomery for Tyrone Haynes "Freedom Ride" Music Preservation Society Inc Florence Lauderdale $6,000 Salt and Pepper Roots Music Celebration Nathifa Dance Company and Outreach Birmingham Jefferson $4,500 Nathifa's Strategy Planning Inc Opelika Main Street Opelika Lee $3,200 Downtown Opelika Sculpture Art Exhibit Opera Birmingham Birmingham Jefferson $7,800 Video concert “Opera...From a Sistah's Point of View” Opera Birmingham Birmingham Jefferson $7,800 Video Performance: Puccini's La Boheme Opportunity 4 Entertainers & Performing Mobile Mobile $4,000 MOB Music Festival Arts PaperWorkers Local Birmingham Jefferson $7,500 Workshops and exhibits Pettway, China Boykin Wilcox $2,000 Quilting Apprenticeship Pettway, Emma Boykin Wilcox $2,700 Quilting Apprenticeship Pioneer Museum of Alabama Troy Pike $3,750 Spring Plantin' Prattville Creative and Performing Arts Prattville Autauga $11,000 2021 Prattville Celebration of the Council Arts PTA Alabama Congress/AAA PTA Huntsville Madison $7,700 Dance Africa Raghuram, Sudha Montgomery Montgomery $2,700 Bharatanatyam Dance Apprenticeship Redemption Town Partners Scottsboro Jackson $7,500 Pictures of Hope Robertson, Wanda Florence Lauderdale $1,700 Quilting Apprenticeship Russell, Jason Gadsden Etowah $2,500 Decoy Carving Apprenticeship Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association Huntsville Madison $2,000 Document Camp Fasola - shape note music Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association Huntsville Madison $3,000 Summer camp for teaching Sacred Harp Sanspointe Dance Company Birmingham Jefferson $4,400 Here. We. Are. Selma Dallas County Historic Preservation Selma Dallas $5,600 Art Camp 2021 Society Shelby County Arts Council Columbiana Shelby $7,500 Development Team Leader Shelby County Arts Council Columbiana Shelby $11,000 Alabama Traditions Shoals Symphony Orchestra Florence Lauderdale $4,500 Music for Our Heroes Shoals Symphony Orchestra Florence Lauderdale $4,300 John Paul White with the SSO Sloss Furnaces Foundation Birmingham Jefferson $7,500 Workshops and Open Studios Sloss Furnaces Foundation Birmingham Jefferson $7,500 Summer Youth Apprenticeship Society of Arts and Crafts inc. (SAC's) Montgomery Montgomery $7,500 2021 Photograph Competition and Exhibit Southern Museum of Flight Birmingham Jefferson $5,500 Just Plane Art: Website & Projects Space One Eleven (SOE) Birmingham Jefferson $5,200 35th Anniversary Project Space One Eleven (SOE) Birmingham Jefferson $7,500 Art Education for Children and Youth St Jude Alumni and Friends Inc / Fiscal Montgomery Montgomery $7,800 Curtain Call with Mr. McCall agent for Ron McCall St Jude Alumni and Friends Inc / Fiscal Montgomery Montgomery $7,800 "No More Strangers" Digital Stage agent for Cynthia Harris Stewart, Charles Weston Anderson Lauderdale $2,700 Bluegrass Music Apprenticeship Stillman College Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa $7,700 Hello Black Belt! Sylacauga Area Council on the Arts & Sylacauga Talladega $7,500 Marble Symposium and Cultural Humanities Exchange Tennessee Valley Art Association Tuscumbia Colbert $2,600 Michi Meko Exhibition at TVAA Tennessee Valley Jazz Society, Inc. Huntsville Madison $7,800 Evolution of Black Music in Alabama The Arts Council of Montgomery Montgomery Montgomery $5,700 Art Competition for Exceptional Students The Arts Council, Inc. dba Arts Huntsville Huntsville Madison $7,500 SPACES & PLACES Public Art Development The Exceptional Foundation Homewood Jefferson $3,800 Social Distancing Art Initiative The University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville Madison $4,150 UAH Spring 2021 Constellation Series Theatre Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa $7,800 Second Stage Growth Tourism Council of Bullock County-Red Union Springs Bullock $9,700 Present 3 performing arts events Door Theatre Tran, Charlie Irvington Mobile $2,500 Traditional Lion Dance Apprenticeship Troy University Troy Pike $2,340 From 231 to Yangtze Troy University Department of Art and Troy Pike $7,500 Troy IAC Mural Project, Phase 2 Design Troy-Pike Cultural Arts Center, Inc. Troy Pike $1,750 Bluegrass in the Troy-Pike Cultural Arts Center, Inc. Troy Pike $2,600 Exhibits and Graphic Design support Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa $5,600 Build Organizational Strength Association, Inc. UAB's Alys Stephens Center Birmingham Jefferson $7,800 UAB's ASC Eric Essix Group Residency Vulcan Park Foundation DBA Vulcan Park Birmingham Jefferson $4,000 Too Many Questions recording and Museum Walnut Gallery Gadsden Etowah $11,250 Gadsden Public Sculpture Project Wiregrass Blues Society Dothan Houston $7,500 Project Preservation Wiregrass Museum of Art, Inc. Dothan Houston $5,200 Professional Development and Training Wiregrass Museum of Art, Inc. Dothan Houston $5,200 2021 Artist Residencies