| The Lehigh Valley Arts Council observes National Arts and Humanities Month with Arts Count 2015, an arts rally and awards ceremony, on Tuesday, October 13, 2015, at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This year’s gathering also celebrates the new and expanded Charter Arts facility at Third and Polk Streets in South Bethlehem.
“We are very excited to offer the arts community an opportunity to tour this 80,000 square-foot facility,” says Forte, “now equipped with a recording studio, a black box studio, four dance studios, expanded art studios and gallery, and a 350-seat performing arts theatre. Wow!” ARTS COUNT serves as the occasion for the Lehigh Valley Arts Council to distribute grant awards to the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA) Project Stream recipients in Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties. The Project Stream is open to individual artists and community groups who apply for support of an arts-related project with strong public impact. More than $34,000 in state funds will be awarded to twenty-seven applicants for activities September 1, 2015 through August 31, 2016. “Arts Count celebrates the public/private partnerships that fuel the arts in our region,” says Executive Director Randall Forte, “and features local business and foundation leaders giving testimony on the value and impact of the arts.” Locally elected officials are invited to present checks to the grant recipients from their districts. In keeping with the spirit of fellowship, Arts Council members are encouraged to bring a guest and rally for the arts. PPA, an initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, is designed to widen the circle of funding opportunities in support of arts activities throughout the Commonwealth. The grant application and award process is administered by the Arts Council staff, who convene advisory panels from the cultural community to review the proposals for artistic excellence and public impact. This year, grant activities will reach a wide range of constituents, from young children to senior citizens, and engage audiences in projects that include Latin, Native American, and Asian cultural festivals; multidisciplinary endeavors in dance, theatre, film, photography and music; public arts events, classes, and exhibits in sculpture gardens, heritage centers, county museums and campus galleries, bus shelters, and city streets. Among this year’s grantees, there are ten first-time grantees. The grant awards recipiencts are:
The October reception is supported by Gross McGinley, LLP and PPL, and is free to Arts Council members and grant recipients; the cost to guests and nonmembers is $10. Refreshments will be served. R.S.V.P. to 610-437-5915 to attend. For information about the PPA grant application, contact PA Partners in the Arts Coordinator Marilyn Roberts at ppa@LVArtsCouncil.org. |
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Tag Archives: arts and culture
New Arts Partnership To Form Audience Analytics
| The Lehigh Valley Arts Council (LVAC) announces a new partnership with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (GPCA) , the formation of Audience Analytics of the Greater Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley Region. As of July 1, 2015, seventy-five participating cultural nonprofits in a ten county area now gain access to an expanded market of more than two million arts households.
Audience Analytics is a strategic audience development program, designed to improve marketing intelligence and build audiences. Participating arts and cultural organizations in both regions are provided with the training, tools, and expertise to thrive in an increasingly competitive market. “This partnership is very exciting in so many ways, from audience development to organizational sustainability,” said Randall Forte , LVAC Executive Director. “From a cultural tourism perspective, it allows the Lehigh Valley cultural community to expand their reach and increase the number of out-of-area attendees.” Audience Analytics has contracted Target Resource Group, the nation’s leading provider of data management and consulting services, for use of TRG’s new and robust Data Center system. When an organization’s data is uploaded into the system, it is first cleansed and certified though the USPS National Change of Address. Household records are then appended with demographic, psychographic, and geographic characteristics, allowing organizations to analyze their patrons in variety of powerful ways. By obtaining these insights, participants are able to make the most efficient and effective use of their marketing and programming dollars. In addition, Data Center allows organizations to identify their best potential trading partners and streamlines the mailing list exchanges. All trades are 100% permission based, ensuing organizations retain 100% control of their data. The Lehigh Valley Arts Council had been in discussion about forming this partnership with GPCA prior to launching the Cultural List Exchange Co-Op in 2013. The past two years were devoted to establishing a core group of Lehigh Valley organizations and providing them with enough time to learn the system and get up to speed with the more seasoned Philadelphia organizations. The participants include a wide range of cultural organizations representing the performing arts, visual arts, literary and media arts, as well as historical and cultural institutions. From the Lehigh Valley, the core group includes: Act 1 DeSales University Performing Arts Included among the Philadelphia organizations are: If you or your organization would like additional information about the program, contact Kim Infante at the Lehigh Valley Arts Council at clec@lvartscouncil.org. The Lehigh Valley Arts Council thanks our Founding Partner, Discover Lehigh Valley, and our corporate and foundation supporters for their investment toward the initial development of this program and their support for the Lehigh Valley Arts Council in uniting the nonprofit sector. |
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Lehigh Valley Arts Council 840 Hamilton Street, Suite 201 Allentown, PA 18101 610-437-5915 / operations@LVArtsCouncil.org www.LVArtsCouncil.org / www.LVArtsBoxOffice.org |
York’s New Arts And Culture Liaison Hopes To Connect Artists, Community
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting York County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The words effortlessly pour out of Carla Christopher’s mouth whether she’s behind a mic reading an original poem, or sitting at a coffee table at New Grounds talking about arts in the City of York.
She’s no stranger to the talk or the mic, as she just completed a three-year stint as the city’s poet laureate.
But now, York has tasked her with a new goal — one that’s already near and dear to her heart: arts and culture liaison.
“Carla’s ability to connect to so many different people needed to be capitalized upon,” Mayor Kim Bracey said.
Read more: http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_25714953/yorks-new-arts-and-culture-liaison-hopes-connect
Program Profiles Reading Redevelopment Efforts
A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Efforts to revitalize Reading’s economy were highlighted Thursday in a live national round-table online discussion that included panelists from California and Georgia.
“Albert Boscov is very good at shaking money trees, and I collect the bills,” said Adam Mukerji, executive director of the Reading Redevelopment Authority, who sat in for the retailer Boscov, a key figure with Our City Reading, a group committed to helping first-time buyers purchase refurbished city homes.
Mukerji described the retailer “as one of the most charitable persons I have ever worked with.”
Conversation Starters, a national nonprofit based in College Station, Texas, hosted the third in a series focusing on nationwide ideas for community building and economic development.
Arts In Philadelphia Economy: A Pretty Picture
English: This is my own work, Public Domain Photograph, not copyrighted Ed Yakovich http://www.flickr.com/photos/10396190@N04 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Arts and cultural organizations have a multibillion-dollar impact on the Philadelphia region’s economy, and are among the nation’s most productive in creation of jobs and stirring up economic activity. Only those in the Washington area generate more per-capita expenditures, and in terms of jobs, no region comes close to Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Cultural activity generates nearly $170 million in state and local taxes annually and supports 44,000 jobs within the city and its four suburban Pennsylvania counties, according to a study set for release Monday by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.
The economic-impact study, based on data collected from 345 arts and cultural organizations and more than 2,000 audience members, reports that the sector triggers a total of $3.3 billion in direct and indirect expenditures every year.
In the area of employment, culture in the first-ranked Philadelphia region supports 43,700 jobs; Greater Houston, number two, generates 29,100, and Washington, number three, 29,000.
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