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Published Friday, November 27, 2009 in Local

Grassroots Arts Program grants to benefit libraries, arts center

By Jeff Bishop

The Times-Herald

Arts Clayton has announced its annual Grassroots Arts Program (GAP) grants to organizations in the south metro Atlanta area, and Coweta County is among the winners.

Thanks to the grant funding, the Coweta County Public Library System will be able to present a "Literary & Visual Arts Workshop Series," while the Newnan Carnegie Library Foundation will present "Preschool Storybook Puppet Day."

Also on the winners list is Newnan Community Theatre, which will present "Uncle Remus Tales Retold," Southeastern Ballet Company with "Spring Repertoire," and Patrons of the Centre, Inc. , which will use the grant to present a performance of Handel's "Messiah."

"That's coming up on Dec. 13 at 2 in the afternoon at the Centre for Performing Arts," said Don Nixon, director of the Centre.

The performance will feature the Masterworks Chorale and "selected high school students from all three local high schools," Nixon said.

"There will be an orchestra that's mostly made up of players from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra," he said.

The conductor will be Dr. John Dickson, Dean of the Townsend School of Music at Mercer University in Macon.

"Dr. Dickson is highly regarded and he is an in-demand vocal conductor across the U.S.," said Nixon. "We believe that Newnan deserves the best. We wanted to take that next step with this performance."

Nixon said this concert should be a special treat because it features several outstanding soloists, and also because "Messiah has not been sung in Newnan in many years."

Nixon said that Messiah is part of the "standard repertoire" for most community choral groups, "and it needs to be offered here in our community, as well."

Students will be a featured part of the performance because "we think it is part of our responsibility as educators to make sure that our students have the opportunity to perform some of the grand literature of the choral world.

"This would be something that is really impossible to accomplish in the classroom, with everything else they have to do," said Nixon.

"This is such a big work, and it is really so demanding, that it's something that is best experienced as an extension of the classroom," he said.

Nixon thanked the Grassroots Arts Program for funding both the "Messiah" performance and other valuable local arts-related programs.

"We got the grant last year for our performance of 'Annie Get Your Gun,'" he said. "That was also done with high school students and Masterworks, and we brought in two New York soloists.

"This kind of financial assistance is significant," he said. "It allows to do some things that might be difficult to do, otherwise.

"Unfortunately, in this economy, there's not a great deal of grants that are being given out this year," he said. "There are limited resources. I feel our group is quite fortunate and quite thrilled to be able to present this program."

Tickets for "Messiah" are available at Scott's Bookstore and Morgan's Jewelers downtown and at the Centre. Tickets are $15 general admission and $12 for seniors and students.

Over the next year, the projects of 37 organizations will be partially funded through the GAP program. South Metro area organizations received grants totaling over $33,000 as part of the statewide Grassroots Arts Program. Each project was selected for its proposal to provide new art experiences for the community or to expand existing art programs and reaching out to new audiences.

Butts, Clayton, Fayette, Henry, Jasper, Lamar, Newton, Rockdale and Spalding counties were included in the funding, as well as Coweta.

The Grassroots Arts Program is funded by the Georgia Council for the Arts through appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly to ensure all Georgians have access to the arts activities which enrich our lives. Every Georgia County receives an equal per-capita allocation.

Arts Clayton was once again selected by the Georgia Council for the Arts as a Grassroots Agency to administer this program for the 10 counties in the Southside region for fiscal year 2010.

This statewide arts program is designed to encourage local collaborations between artists, arts organizations, and non-arts organizations, in order to serve a broad range of Georgia's residents. Funding is open to any non-profit organization or unit of local government.

Ideally, Grassroots Arts Projects create new opportunities for citizens to experience the arts while fostering greater awareness and developing local partnerships in the arts. GAP also aims to have a positive impact on overall community development in these growing counties. Funded projects must be accessible to the general public, must provide 50 percent of the total project cost as a cash match for the grant, and projects must be completed by June 30, 2010.

The Grassroots Advisory Committee of 24 volunteers representing all 10 counties in the region met Oct. 24 to determine and recommend funding allocations.

The committee, which was comprised of individuals with a variety of backgrounds in areas such as tourism, as artist, educators, journalists, business owners, retired military, political representatives, homemakers, and medical professionals, faced a very difficult task with over $50,750.00 in art grant funding requests and only $33,282.02 available to re-grant.

Primary consideration was given to applications reflecting art projects with a commitment to excellence, accessibility, education, collaboration, and support for local artists. Projects with the potential for lasting impact and positive change took precedence.

For additional information about GAP or to put your name on the GAP mailing list to receive future information for this region, contact Arts Clayton, P.O. Box 669, Jonesboro, GA 30237.

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