(WAUSAU, WI) - The Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin distributed $94,800 through the Community Arts Grant Fund, providing funding for 25 visual and performing arts programs for local organizations, including summer drama camps, local festivals, painting workshops, artist residencies, and community performances. Funding for the Community Arts Grant program has been provided through the Wisconsin Arts Board, a state agency, the B.A. & Esther Greenheck Foundation, and the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin’s Wausau Marathon County Fund.
The Wisconsin Arts Board awarded an $18,600 grant to the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wisconsin Arts Board, to bring decision-making on arts funding to the local level. Funded by a $25,000 grant from the Foundation’s Wausau Marathon County Fund, and a $50,000 match by the B.A. & Esther Greenheck Foundation this program will continue to make a tremendous impact on the Arts within Marathon County in the upcoming year.
Projects designed to complement, enhance, or expand new or existing cultural activities throughout Marathon County were eligible to receive funding. To qualify, some portion or outcome of the project must be open to the public. Grants up to $5,000 were awarded. To apply for a Community Arts Grant in 2020, contact Sue Nelson, Program Officer at the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin at 715-845-9555 for grant guidelines and application instructions.
Community Arts Grant Funding Awarded – 2019
Community Arts Grants totaling $94,800 were awarded to projects and programs that showcase the quality and diversity of the Marathon County arts community. The variety of programs that received funding included summer drama camps, local festivals, painting workshops, artist residencies, and community performances.
| CenterStage Band & Show Choir: $4,778 An annual, family friendly, band and show choir performance at the Grand Theater. The show this year is “Going Back to the ‘80’s!" will be held September 26-28 and is free to the general public. | LuCille Tack Center for the Arts: $2,407 The 2019-20 Arts Adventure Performance Series in Spencer will include performances that will provide an exciting extension to the classroom, coinciding with school curriculum and educational objectives that support literacy, cultural and historical enrichment, and character building for students grades Pre-K to 12. |
| Central Wisconsin Children's Theatre: $4,755 2019 Summer Drama Camps offer theatre educaton to area youth and theatre arts educators. | Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps: $4,900 Northwoods Encore Drum & Bugle Corps Show will be held at Steim Stadium July 2, 2019, feature drum and bugle corps from through the midwest. |
| Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra: $2,310 Dorothy Vetter Educational Concerts for fourth graders. The CWSO will perform three 45-minute symphony orchestra concerts at Sentry Theatre in Stevens Point in March of 2020. | Marathon County Public Library: $4,928 The third-annual Central Wisconsin Book Festival will take place over the course of four days, Sept. 26-29, 2019. The festival will include a wide variety of events featuring authors of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. |
| Community Ballet Program: $1,320 Provides classical ballet training, with a literacy component, to a culturally diverse population of children in the greater Wausau area, particularly to those who are economically disadvantaged. | Mosinee Community Theatre: $4,703 The summer production of “Monty Python's Spamalot” will engage the creative enthusiasm of community volunteers on and off stage. This production will give individuals from Mosinee and surrounding communities an opportunity to experience dramatic arts in a fun and unique way. |
| Edgar Elementary School: $1,855 The Missoula Children's Theatre, a professional children's theater group, will conduct a 5-day theater residency at the Edgar Public Schools. They will produce a full-scale musical performance complete with costumes, make-up, song and dance with approximately 60 children from the Edgar area participating. | Opera for the Young: $1,343 “The Pirates of Penzance” will be brought to Marathon County schools, offering a unique experience from other outreach companies. This will not only include a one-day professional opera performance, but also giving teachers enrichment materials that help prepare the student chorus and audience members for the interactive, participatory experience. |
| Hmong American Center: $4,873 The Hmong Wausau Festival will occur this year over a two day span on July 27 and 28 at the Eastbay Sports Complex. Over 8,000 attendees, 1,000 competitors, and hundreds of vendors from across the country will participate in a weekend of arts, music, sports, competitions, and food. | NAOMI/People for the Power of Love: $3,814 The Martin Luther King Jr. Day Commemoration, an evening celebration of Dr. King's life and work, is undertaken in support of a broader mission to foster understanding throughout the community regarding ethnic, cultural, diversity, inclusion, and equity issues. |
| Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum: $4,919 San Francisco-based sculptor Thomas Hill will be in residence at the Woodson Art Museum November 4-19. During the seven-day residency, Hill will work with area students to create distinct wire sculptures they will take home; discuss his artistic process during an interactive public program; and lead a wire-sculpting workshop for teens and adults. | Performing Arts Foundation: $4,738 2019-20 Access for All Program at the Grand, is an outreach program that engages families and individuals in the arts, enabling them to experience the performing arts at The Grand regardless of their economic status. |
| River Valley Jazz Society: $4,349 The 10th Annual River Valley Jazz Festival will promote jazz music at various venues in the downtown Wausau area July 26-28, 2019. | Wausau Conservatory of Music: $4,798 The 2019-20 Youth Choral Program brings area vocal music professionals, WCM staff, and youth together, to enjoy and participate in choral music and music education which will encourage them to carry an appreciation for music on into their adult lives. |
| South Beach Chamber Ensemble: $4,853 South Beach Up North will celebrate its fifteenth anniversary with a unique and diverse series of chamber music concerts in Wausau and Minocqua in July of 2020. | Wausau Festival of Arts: $3,307 The 2019 Festival of the Arts will be providing live entertainment in downtown Wausau across three different stages. This will include music by more than 30 local favorites as well as nationally known performers. |
| Summit Players Theatre: $1,000 Shakespeare will be brought to Rib Mountain State Park June 28, 2019. This season’s production, “Romeo & Juliet”, supports community and family engagement through a family-accessible, 75-minute, six-actor adaptation of the script, complemented by an educational pre-show workshop entitled, “Playing with Shakespeare: Get Outside with Will.” | Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art: $4,349 Jacob Dhein, a renowned contemporary painter exhibiting works from New York to Los Angeles, will discuss his insights into painting - not only what makes good painting, but the importance of art as a place of broader personal understanding and community connection. He will also be performing a live demonstration during his residency in Wausau. |
| UWSP at Wausau: $4,849 Vocal Jazz Fest is a program that invites a regional or nationally known vocal jazz artist or group to the campus for a two-day residency. The first day sees the group working with the UWSP Wausau choir and Vocal Jazz Ensemble and day two is a full day of clinics and master classes with choirs from all over the Midwest. | Wausau River District: $4,833 Jazz on the River is a free concert series that takes place on Sunday evenings from July through August at Kickbush Plaza, behind the Marathon County Public Library. This concert series brings in a variety of musical acts; allowing a platform for local and regional jazz musicians and artists. |
| Wausau Community Theatre: $3,811 From the Oscar-winning team of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz comes a lush retelling of Victor Hugo's epic story of love, acceptance and what it means to be a hero as Wausau Community Theatre brings “The Hunchback Of Notre Dame” to the stage October 31–November 2, 2019. | Wausau School District: $4,844 Wausau West High School 2019 Winter Concert at the Grand; and a Wisconsin Singers Residency help to facilitate additional music education programming for West music students as well as provide top quality, affordable entertainment for the greater Wausau area. |
| Wausau Concert Band: $2,164 The local concert band will celebrate its 125th anniversary with a special concert at the Grand Theater on June 27, 2019. |
