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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Jane Beal, Elizabeth White
January 13, 2005 617-49-4380
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The Cambridge Arts Council (CAC) is pleased to announce the grant recipients for the 2005
Local Cultural Council Grant Program in Cambridge, MA. With approximately $50,000 to grant in this funding
cycle, CAC awarded 27 grants, allocating funds to 43% of the applicants.
The majority of the funding comes from the City of Cambridge, amounting to $35,000. City funding has helped
offset the substantial cuts in state funding that occurred in 2002. Announcing the list of recipients, Mayor
Michael A. Sullivan said, "I am delighted to see the range of creative energy displayed by this year’s
applicants. Funding will support projects benefiting every neighborhood of the city. Cambridge is committed
to nurturing the vitality of arts and culture. I am delighted that every child in the Cambridge Public School
will have access to subsidized tickets and that many will work with professional artists in their schools.”
Each year, CAC distributes funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the City of Cambridge
through a competitive grant process to support arts initiatives that have a direct benefit to Cambridge
citizens and the cultural life of the city. "Every dollar committed by the state to cultural programming
is an investment in a creative community that reinforces the vitality of our economy, our educational system
and our daily lives," said Senator Jarrett T. Barrios (D-Cambridge). "The artistic community is an integral
part of our identity as an innovative and enlightened Commonwealth."
The review panel for the grant program looks for projects that focus on a high level of community interaction.
Passim Folk Music & Cultural Center was awarded support for the Culture for Kids program which provides free,
monthly concerts for children that engage them in the music, art, cuisine and dances of different cultures.
Begun in 1999, the program plays to a full house each month at the historic folk club in Harvard Square.
“Passim has always been dedicated to preserving and promoting folk music traditions from around the globe that
have shaped America’s musical landscape,” states Executive Director Betsy Siggins Schmidt . “With Culture for
Kids, we are offering a free arts program designed to introduce young people to cultures other than their own.
Given the atmosphere of tension in our world today, this exposure is more important than ever.”
Prometheus Dance will be funded for the creation and presentation of The Elders Dance Project. The project
springs from modern dance classes for senior dancers ages 55-90 held at The Dance Complex in Central Square.
The classes will result in the creation of a new work, entitled Being There, that will be performed by members
of the class at four locations during late Spring of 2005. "Because dance has been perceived as a young person's
profession, this project seeks to address the neglect of the elder dancer. We believe that opportunities should
be created that allow these artists to express the grace and depth of their experience that is physically and
spiritually unique to them," explained Tommy Neblett who, along with Diane Arvanities-Noya, is Artistic Director
for Prometheus Dance.
Elementary school teacher, Sue Kranz received funding for a second year supporting an innovative approach
to Spanish language instruction. Artists representing different Latino cultures will bring music and dance to
her classroom at the Fletcher-Maynard Academy. “As an artist and musician, I teach Spanish through the lens
of culture,” says Kranz regarding this program. “Music, dance, chants, rhythms, games, dialogues and in-depth
studies of several Latino cultures, all combine to provide a broad basis for Communication, Comparison and
Connection. It is essential that children not only learn to communicate in the Spanish language, but also
to explore the differences and similarities among these diverse cultures.”
The 2004 Grant Review Panel consisted of fifteen Cambridge-based artists and arts professionals
who were nominated based on expertise in the arts and outstanding involvement in the Cambridge community.
The 2005 Grant Panel members were: Uche Amaechi, Deena Anderson, Jeanne Bamberger, Judith Contrucci,
Mary Curtin, David Fichter, Robert Honeysucker, Margaret Lazarus, Helen Elaine Lee, Charles Norris,
Marcus Schulkind, Nancy Seymour, Cheryl Suchors, Jody Weber, and Susan Wilson.
Grant recipients for 2005:
Artisan's World: La Negritude Movement
Celebration of Negritude, a literary and ideological movement led by black intellectuals, writers, poets
and politicians from the Caribbean and West Africa.
Brazilian Cultural Center: Escola de Samba
Samba music training program for Cambridge teens, focused on percussion instruments, choreography and costuming.
Lynn Cadwallader: Sounds of the Silents
Completion funds for a documentary about live music used to accompany silent films, leading to a
series of screenings.
Cambridge Arts Council Public Art Program: Public Art ACTS
Collaboration with the Underground Railway Theater to create and stage theatrical productions for
experiencing public art in the spaces of daily life.
Cambridge Multicultural Art Center: Still Present Pasts
A multi-media exhibit on legacies of the Korean War including oral histories of survivors; art installations
and historical text.
Child Care Resource Center: Animals of the World
Support the publication of "What's for Dinner" a poem-story written by two local poets inspired by children's
drawings.
Community Art Center: DIYDS National Youth Video & Film Festival
Festival run by teens attracts 100 submissions of youth produced films from across the US.
Dance Complex: Dance Month
Citywide collaboration to celebrate dance at schools, libraries, businesses and public places throughout
the month of May 2005.
Tracy Daniels: Souls: A Portrait of Healing
Production of short film about a series of portraits by painter Julie Baer depicting children who died in
the Holocaust; to be filmed in Cambridge and New York.
Green Street Studios: Master Dance Residency Project
Residencies and workshops bring master teachers to Boston to invigorate and inspire the professional dance
community.
Allie Humenuk: Out of Place
Editing for documentary film celebrating the renowned photographer Abelardo Morell, exploring how his work
is effected by his exile from Cuba at age 14.
Sue Kranz: Latino Artists Curriculum Support Project
Visits from artists representing different facets of Latino music and dance to support the cultures
studied by the Spanish program at Fletcher-Maynard Academy, grades kindergarten through fifth.
Rebekah Maggor: Shakespeare's Actresses in America
One woman play of historical portrayals of female Shakespearean characters as performed by some of the
greatest actresses to have lived and toured in America.
New England Poetry Club: Outdoor Summer Poetry
Outdoor poetry series includes readings by established poets and by student prize-winners,
held at Longfellow House and public libraries.
Kevin Jameel Parker: Judaism in America Today
Working with youth to create an art installation in Area IV depicting the experiences of four Jewish
American families of different backgrounds. Project includes a mural, stained glass, Braille and website.
Passim Folk Music & Cultural Center: Culture for Kids
Free interactive, educational events with music, dance, art and cuisine of an American or international
culture, for children ages 8-12.
Prometheus Dance: The Elders Dance Project
Creation and presentation of project involving seven senior dancers ages 55-90; includes modern dance class
for elders ages 55 and older, development of new work Being There, and performance by members of the class at
four locations.
Tapestry: Ordo Virtutem
Artist residency program will bring together singers from Longy School of Music and modern dancers
from Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School to develop a new adaptation of Hildegard von Bingen's music drama.
Tunefoolery: Tunefoolery Scholarship Program
Scholarship program servicing people struggling with psychiatric disabilities to provide access to music
lessons, weekly choir, ensemble coaching and workshops.
Women's Center: Mother - Child Art Program
Free art classes for children ages 2-4 and their mothers, teaching age appropriate artistic play and skill
development.
World Music: CRASHarts Dance Program
Support for two residencies by contemporary dance ensembles, two world dance groups and two annual dance
showcases for local dance artists.
PASS program: Subsidized tickets for children to attend cultural institutions
Agassiz Neighborhood Council
~~ 45 tickets to Wheelock Family Theater
Cambridge Family & Children's Services
~~ 35 tickets to Wheelock Family Theater
CRLS Drama Fund for public schools-- grades K-2
~~ 275 tickets to Wheelock Family Theater
CRLS Drama Fund for public schools--grades 3-5
~~ 300 tickets to Boston Symphony Orchestra
CRLS Drama Fund for public schools--grades 6-8
~~ 400 tickets to Museum of Fine Arts
Fletcher-Maynard Extended Day
~~ 40 tickets to Boston Children's Theater
More information about the Cambridge Arts Council grant program can be found at the agency’s
website, http://www.cambridgeartscouncil.org or by calling 617-349-4380.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: Additional information about the grant recipients and the funding process is available
from the Cambridge Arts Council. Please contact Elizabeth White or Jane Beal at
617-349-4380 or ewhite@cambridgema.gov.
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