R2AC Awards Arts Project Grants

Region 2 Arts Council (R2AC) recently awarded $23,990 through the Arts Project Grants Program, for organizations and schools to create or produce an arts project or event. The grant recipients included:

Headwaters School of Music and the Arts, Bemidji, received $3,000 to host the third annual Lakes Area Drumset Camp.

Blank Canvas Gallery and Education Center, Park Rapids, received $2,200 to provide extended art education activities for school children through an art show and summer youth camps that utilize the expertise of experienced art teachers and coordinators.

Bemidji Community Arts Council, Bemidji, was awarded $2,885 to, in collaboration with Bemidji State university, present the 9th Annual “It’s Only Clay” National Juried Ceramic Competition and Exhibit.

Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council, Park Rapids, was awarded $2,745 to produce the Youth Music & Arts Showcase III featuring the artistic/musical talents of Park Rapids area youth August 18- 20, 2011.

Paul Bunyan Playhouse, Bemidji, received $1,505 to present the Roe Family Singers in a concert of old-time mountain music on Saturday October 15, 2011 in Bemidji.

District 309 Community Education, Bagley, was awarded $1,600 to assist in creating a Kids Theater Camp to engage students in writing, developing, designing and producing an original play with music.

Bemidji - First City of Arts Studio Cruise 2011, Bemidji, was awarded $1,500 to organize and promote a self-guided tour of working artists at their studios in the Bemidji Area on October 21-23, 2011.

ACLU-MN Greater MN Racial Justice Project, Bemidji, was awarded $735 to create a cross-cultural art exhibit of Indigenous (American Indian) art that focuses on the first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights with a theme of loss/hope.

Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council, Park Rapids, was awarded $1,235 to partner with Park Rapids Community Education to sponsor a performance by an award-winning bluegrass band from the Czech Republic.

Bemidji Community Theater, Bemidji, was awarded $3,000 to produce “A Christmas Carol,” complete with costumes, sets, and music reminiscent of Charles Dickens’ Victorian England, in December 2011 at the Paul Bunyan Playhouse in Bemidji.

Jackpine Writers' Bloc, Menahga, received $985 to produce a six-week exhibit in which twenty literary artists write poems, essays or stories inspired by the works of twenty visual artists the results of which will be shown at the Blank Canvas Gallery in Park Rapids, MN.

Headwaters School of Music and the Arts, Bemidji, was awarded $2,100 to present a series of music and art performances at the Lake Bemidji State Park Amphitheater.

Bemidji Community Arts Center, Bemidji, was awarded $500 to continue its Spoken Word Series with readings by Mark R. Christensen April 30th, Susan C. Hauser, October 2nd and others.

Applications for these grants will be available in the Region 2 Arts Council Office, 426 Bemidji Avenue, Bemidji, MN 56601, and will be available for download from our website, http//r2arts.org. Please call the Region 2 Arts Council office with any questions at 751-5447 or 1-800-275-5447 or send us an email at staff@r2arts.org.