Arts​ ​Council​ ​Napa​ ​Valley​ ​Announces 2017​ ​ACNV​ ​Community​ ​Fund​ ​Grant​ ​Recipients

Arts Council Napa Valley (ACNV) is pleased to announce the inaugural grant recipients of the ACNV Community Fund. The awardees are five nonprofits and five individual artists working in a diverse range of disciplines, each a stellar representation of the flourishing creative culture of Napa County.

Made possible through the support of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation grant awarded to ACNV in 2016, the ACNV Community Fund was established that same year. The re-granting program funds $40,000 each year to small nonprofits and individual artists to support creative works and programs that are publicly accessible within Napa County. The fund is designed to invest in artists and arts nonprofits to support local talent and presenters. Additionally this investment seeks to grow and deepen the general community's relationship to arts and culture through greater access, engagement, and culturally relevant opportunities.
The fund’s first grant cycle saw 29 applications totaling $132,713 in requested support revealing the great need for additional arts funding in the Napa County region. The review panelists selected 10 programs that reflect the diverse range of creativity in the area and ACNV’s core mission of enriching communities through arts and culture. The diverse range of programs including live theater, public art, family-friendly shows and weekend events will involve 245 artists and performers and an estimated 25,925 total audience members and participants.

Remarking on the outpouring of strong proposals for the first cycle of ACNV Community Fund, ACNV President and CEO Olivia Dodd says:

We are inspired by the number of artists and small groups who presented strong ideas to impact the community. We feel the projects reflect the vibrancy of the Napa County and collectively will touch countless artists, students, families, and community members of all backgrounds. While we are thrilled to support these ten projects, there are so many more worthy of investment. Our first year of the Community Fund reveals the need for these grants, and so we look forward to working with donors to strengthen and grow the program.

2017 ACNV Community Fund grant recipients include:

Kristina Young
Napa Quake Mosaic (Napa)
An artist-led and community-built public art installation honoring those affected by the 2014 Napa earthquake featuring objects broken during the earthquake.

E&M Presents
An ‘Amazing’ Weekend (Napa)
A series of of family-friendly performances; The Amazing Bubble Man and The Amazing Max, the fund will also support the creation of an organizational website.

Shakespeare Napa Valley
A Midsummer Night's Dream Napa Valley (Napa & St Helena)
From August through September 2017, Shakespeare Napa Valley will produce a free outdoor production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as homage to life and love in the Napa Valley.

Sing Napa Valley
Brahms requiem Collaborative Performance (Yountville)

Beclee Wilson
The Land and Its People: Art and Poetry (St. Helena & Yountville)
An art-making project of photography and poetry; students of Saint Helena Elementary School will create photos and poems to be displayed in an exhibit at the Napa Valley Museum.
Sing Napa Valley, St. Helena Chamber Singers, Napa Valley College Chorale, together perform Brahms’ A GERMAN REQUIEM, with Symphony Napa Valley and professional soloists, conducted by world-renowned San Francisco Symphony Chorus Director Ragnar Bohlin.

Barry Martin
Napa Focused Play-Cycle Project (Napa)
The Napa Focused Play Cycle Project will create the first two scripts for a series of plays examining the human condition in modern-day Napa Valley.

Award recognition for grantees will take place on February 28 2017 at 1pm at the 2017 Napa County State of the Arts Summit. Get more details about the summit and tickets here.