Category Archives: Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs

From MCACA, The Field Report, August 2015

Mark your calendars now for Friday September 18, 2015. That’s the day MCACA will be making its announcement for those awarded funding for Fiscal Year 2016. Awards will be announced for these grant programs: Arts in Education Residencies, Capital Improvement, Operational Support and Project Support. Minigrant awards will be posted a few days later through the regrant coordinators. In Region 2 (Northwest Michigan), all applicants will be notified of their status no later than Monday, September 21.

And MCACA is beefing up the programming a bit that day. We’ll be meeting at the Michigan Historical Center in Lansing (702 W Kalamazoo St) in the morning, where we’ll be welcoming the Metropolitan Group and Arts Midwest, who have been partnering with MCACA, and will report out on their first year of a Building Public Will program. This will be followed by a networking lunch, and our awards announcement in the afternoon.

Information about the event and posting of all awards (after the announcement) will be available on the MCACA website.

Michigan Council for the Arts minigrants benefit dozens of organizations each year. Designed to extend state funding for the arts into every county in Michigan, minigrants up to $4,000 are available to support arts projects and up to $1,500 to support professional and organizational development. Here are a few ways that this year’s 20 minigrants are being used:

• Northwest Michigan Ballet Theatre presented the original ballet and music for Whither Thou Goest: Story of Ruth Ballet in February, featuring choreography by Tom Morrell and performances by guest dancers as well as members of the regional youth ballet theatre.
• Michigan Legacy Art Park’s executive director Renee Hintz participated in professional fund development training through the Indiana Fundraising School’s planned giving course hosted by NorthSky Nonprofit Network in March.
• In Elk Rapids, Art Rapids! continues to grow its Walk of Art.
• The Charlevoix Historical Society with Bon Ami Filmworks is currently in production to create the Wizard of Boulder Park video documentary about the life and work of architect Earl Young.
• The Glen Arbor Art Association will feature the Grand Rapids Band, Hip Pocket, for its annual Dune Climb Family Concert on July 15.
• The Darcy Library of Beulah is offering its Off the Page Writers Series this spring and fall in Benzie County.
• In the schools, Friends of Fine Arts is helping the Suttons Bay Schools provide art enrichment opportunities for students while the Mancelona Public Schools are bringing Jazz Outreach to its students and community.
•  Harbor Springs Historical Society is gathering “tip of the mitt” historical and cultural organizations for a day long series of professional development workshops while the Cadillac Art Council, Parallel 45 and Charlevoix Circle of Arts are conducting strategic planning and capacity building sessions.

NorthSky administers the minigrants as the regional regranter for Region 2 – Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee and Wexford counties – and is hosting a workshop to learn more about MCACA grants on Friday, April 24, 10:30 am at the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce (202 East Grandview Parkway). For more information about the workshops or MCACA minigrants, contact regrant coordinator Mary Gillett at 231-883-8388 or mgillett03@gmail.com.

Twelve arts & cultural groups from five counties in the greater Grand Traverse region have been approved for minigrant funds through the Michigan Council for the Arts & Cultural Affairs (MCACA) Regranting Program for local projects  and professional development planned between January 1 and September 30, 2014.  The organizations will share $28,500 in total funding.  The MCACA regrant program is administered locally through NorthSky Nonprofit Network in Traverse City.

Regional organizations receiving mingrant project grant awards include:

• TBA-ISD for Art Escapes with ACT-TC ;
• Archipelago Project for its Archipelago Summer Music Camp;
• Art Rapids for Walk of Art;
• Building Bridges with Music for Stop the Bullying Workshops;
• Darcy Library of Beulah for its Off the Page Writers Series;
• Friends of Fine Arts at Suttons Bay Schools for Art Enrichment Programs;
• Glen Arbor Art Association for the Manitou Music Festival’s Dune Climb Family Concert;
• Manistee Jaycees Roots on the River concert series;
• Northport Community Arts Center for its production of Fiddler on the Roof;

Organizations receiving minigrants for professional and organizational development include:

• Great Lakes Children’s Museum
• ISLAND, Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Design;
• Michigan Legacy Art Park.

MCACA regranting goals are to address arts & cultural needs, increase public access to arts and culture, build capacity and support projects that preserve, produce or present traditional or contemporary arts and culture.   The grants are funded by the State of Michigan through the Michigan Arts and Cultural Affairs and administered through 19 local districts.  NorthSky is administering District 10 funding for Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee and Wexford counties.

In addition to minigrant funding, MCACA awarded $519,392 to 17 large organizations in the eight county district for operational and project support, facilities and equipment improvements and arts in education.  Regional recipients by county include:

• Benzie, $106,000:  Elizabeth Lane Oliver Center for the Arts, Michigan Legacy Art Park;
• Grand Traverse, $306,760:  Artcenter Traverse City, City Opera House, Great Lakes Children’s Museum, History Center of Traverse City, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Northwester Michigan College/Dennos Museum Center, Old Town Playhouse, Parallel 45, Inc., Traverse City Film Festival, Traverse Symphony Orchestra.
• Leelanau, $19,500:  Leelanau Community Cultural Center, Leland Public School District
• Manistee, $49,632:  Kaleva Norman-Dickson School District, Manistee County Community Foundation
• Wexford, $37,500:  City of Cadillac

For questions or notification of future arts funding information, please contact Mary Bevans Gillett, regrant coordinator, at 231-883-8388 or mgillett@chartermi.net.

NorthSky Nonprofit Network is a program of Rotary Charities and supports the work of the nonprofit sector through advocacy, capacity building, and sustainability support. Its mission is to build strong communities by helping nonprofit organizations achieve and sustain excellence. NorthSky is an official satellite office of the MichiganSmallBusiness & TechnologyDevelopmentCenter, servicing nonprofit organizations.