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Arts Council Announces $50,000 Awarded for
Culture Builds Communities Grants in 2000
The Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester, in collaboration with the City of Rochester and Citibank, announce $50,000 in project support through the Culture Builds Communities Program. The Arts Council will distribute six grants, ranging from $1,000 to $20,000, to neighborhood organizations.
The purpose of Culture Builds Communities is to enable artists to work with neighborhood residents to support neighborhood pride through participatory projects that result in the creation of a lasting work of art that celebrates the neighborhood.
In making the awards, Mayor William A. Johnson said, "We are fortunate in the Rochester community to have a wealth of cultural opportunities that our residents can experience and enjoy at any given time."
Norine Jones, Vice President of Citibank, continued, "The arts not only enrich our lives but also stimulate neighborhood development and resident pride. That's the catalyst for community change."
The Arts & Cultural Council began the program with the City and Citibank three years ago, and funded 12 projects totaling $100,000 in 1998 and 1999. (For a complete list of previously funded projects, access the Arts Council's web site at www.artsrochester.org/artscouncil/grants.htm.
The 2000 projects are as follows:
Grove Place Association
Award: $1,000
Artists: RIT students under the direction of Leonard Urso
Location: Bus stops on Gibbs Street and Windsor Street
Project director: Roz Goldman, 716-232-3387
Artists will work with neighborhood residents to design and create public benches to be placed at bus stops in the Grove Place neighborhood. The artists will be selected from a competition for RIT students, facilitated by sculptor Leonard Urso, and based on their creative approach to city planning.
Merchants Area Neighborhood Association
Award: $10,000
Artist: Rick Muto
Location: Intersection of Culver Avenue and Merchants Road
Project director: Patrick A. Domaratz, 716-654-5562
A public mural will celebrate the history, diversity and future of the neighborhood in honor of its 75th anniversary. The project director and artist will invite students from School #52 and East High School to design concepts for the mural.
Nineteenth Ward Community Association
Award: $20,000
Artist: David Merkel
Location: Corner of Thurston Road and Ravenwood Avenue
Project director: Dorothy Ramsey, 716-436-6702 or 328-6571
A vacant lot will be transformed into a community arts garden and act as a portal to the 19th Ward's Thurston Road commercial district. The project will be a collaborative effort with business owners and residents working together with the artist (who lives a block away from the project site) to interweave historic and contemporary design that will celebrate the diversity of the neighborhood.
North East Area Development, Inc. (NEAD)
Award: $2,000
Artist: Peter Sigrist
Location: 360 Webster Avenue
Project director: John Page, 716-428-7320
A mural will be painted on an interior wall of NEAD's new greenhouse. Students from Frederick Douglass Middle School and from the neighborhood will work with the artist and neighborhood residents.
School 23 PTA
Award: $7,000
Artist: Vincent Massaro
Location: 170 Barrington Street
Project director: Richard Margolis, 716-473-0070
The artist, who is a neighborhood resident, will work with students from School 23 to create and install a sculpture on school grounds. The students will create a time capsule that will be inserted in to the base of the sculpture.
Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood Association
Award: $10,000
Artist: Pepsy Kettavong
Location: Susan B. Anthony Square Park
Project director: Dan Hoffman, 716-436-3772
The artist, who is a neighborhood resident, will create a bronze sculpture of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass for the center of Susan B. Anthony Square Park. Over 100 young people from School #17, James Madison School of Excellence and the neighborhood will participate by (1) identifying and researching famous men and women who have fought for civil rights; and (2) engrave the identified names on bricks and incorporate the bricks around the base of the sculpture.
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