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click here for pdf listing of grant awards, Apr 2008 - Sep 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- April 11, 2008
Contact: Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer
(517) 372-7770 -- shirko [at] mihumanities.org

$49,772 AWARDED FOR ARTS & HUMANITIES PROGRAMS

(LANSING)-----The Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) recently awarded $49,772 in Arts and Humanities Touring Program grants to Michigan organizations to support 142 artistic and cultural presentations in 28 counties between April 1 and September 30, 2008. The touring program, funded in part by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), consists of a wide variety of cultural programs from school assembly musical performances to library storytellers.

“These grants bring some of Michigan’s best arts and humanities presenters to communities across the state,” stated Jan Fedewa, MHC executive director. “These programs demonstrate how arts and cultural programs add quality to our lives.”
A complete listing of touring program events is attached and also listed at michiganhumanities.org.  Examples of the programs funded by Michigan’s Arts & Humanities Touring Program include:

• The Blue Water Ramblers, a folk music duo, and Drew Nelson, an acoustic guitar musician, will perform at the Nor-East’r Music and Art Festival on the Oscoda County Fairgrounds in Mio on June 13, 2008.
• The Cascade Park 2008 Summer Concert Series in Jackson will feature performances throughout the summer at Cascade Falls Park in Jackson.  The touring program supports Boogie Woogie Babies on June 7; the Dave Bennett Quartet on June 13; the Ambassadors Big Band on June 22; Detroit Women on June 29; Gemini on July 9; the Rhythm Society Swing Orchestra on July 12; Rich Eddy’s Rockin’ Oldies Band on July 20; and the New Reformation Jazz Band on September 1.
• The Troy Museum and Historical Village will host the Music in the Air 2008 concert series on consecutive Sundays from July 20 – August 17, 2008: the touring program supports performances by the Duclimer Days with Wanda Degen and Pete Witting on July 27; Gratitude Steel Band on August 3; Blackthorn on August 10; and, Rich Eddy’s Oldies Band on August 17.
• Storyteller LaRon Williams will perform at the Kent District Library in Comstock Park on July 29.

Touring program grants support live presenters – musicians, storytellers, theater companies, tradition bearers, and dancers – and visual arts programs from the 2006-2009 Arts & Humanities Touring Directory. The programs are hosted and sponsored by community schools, libraries, museums, festivals, art councils, and other nonprofit organizations. Grants are awarded to support up to 35 percent of the performers’ fees and expenses. 

Michigan nonprofit organizations are encouraged to apply for grants for programs scheduled from October 1, 2008 – March 30, 2009. The next application period is scheduled for August 25 – September 10, 2008.  Applications are available on the MHC website, www.michiganhumanities.org/touring, and in the printed directory. The directory, a joint project of MHC and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, is sponsored by LaSalle Bank.

The Michigan Humanities Council, founded in 1974, is a non-profit organization funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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