Roswell Arts Commission Awards Cultural Services Contracts

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The city of Roswell and the Roswell Arts Commission have announced its list of organizations that have been awarded a combined $25,000 from Contracts for Cultural Services.

In its third year, CFCS was developed to support Roswell’s nonprofit arts and cultural organizations. Outside the city of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the Fulton County Arts Council, this is the only local government-based program that supports arts and cultural organizations in metro Atlanta.

Seven applications were received this year, all of which received some funding for their grant request.

“We are very proud of this program and all the talent and programming that it provides to Roswell,” said Roswell Historic and Cultural Affairs Manager Morgan Timmis. “We are looking forward to everything the grant recipients have planned for the coming year.”

Recipients were chosen by a volunteer peer review advisory panel comprising individuals with expertise in the various disciplines reflected in the applications. The panel applied established review criteria to each proposal to ensure that fair consideration was given. The Arts Commission then reviewed the panel’s recommendations and made its own recommendation for approval to Roswell’s mayor and council.

The program provides four funding categories to help meet a variety of needs and encourage local cultural services that enrich and benefit the entire community. These include: arts/cultural services; project support; arts education and innovation/collaboration.

Roswell leaders on Monday, Oct. 27 approved the following funding allocations:

• Georgia Ensemble Theatre - arts/cultural services, $6,000: Georgia Ensemble Theatre will present four Main Stage productions and two Theatre for Young Audiences productions on our home stage at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, and will offer conservatory classes, workshops, and residencies for children and adults.
• The Michael O’Neal Singers – arts/cultural services, $4,000: The Michael O’Neal Singers will present four concert productions targeting residents in Roswell and north Fulton. Performances will be held at Roswell United Methodist Church: Holiday Concert (December 2014), Messiah Sing-Along (December 2014), winter concert (March 2015), spring concert (May 2015). These concerts offer Roswell residents the opportunity to experience choral presentations of artistic excellence and programmatic variety.
• Atlanta Dance Theatre – project support, $4,000: Atlanta Dance Theatre will develop a presentation of an innovative new contemporary music and dance performance to be performed with ADT’s annual Spring Classic Ballet, Alice In Wonderland. “Reflections; A Contemporary Dance and Music Experience” will feature multiple dance genres and will bring together the collaborative talents of local award-winning choreographer, Kassandra Taylor Newberry; local recording artists; Skylar Studios; and dance talent from Atlanta Dance Theatre and Roswell-based Dancer’s Studio Backstage. This 35-minute work will feature a variety of dance genres that come together in a concert-like atmosphere. “Reflections; A Contemporary Dance and Music Experience” will be performed to live, original music on March 27-28, 2015, at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center.
• The Teaching Museum – arts education, $3,500: The Teaching Museum will provide eighth-grade students in public schools within the city of Roswell an arts and cultural experience based on Georgia History through the lens of Historic Roswell. Roswell seniors and the public will be invited to attend. Additionally, volunteer docents, a majority of which are Roswell citizens, will benefit from continuing education and enrichment.
• Riverside Chamber Players, Inc. – project support, $3,000: Riverside Chamber Players will present two chamber music concerts of the highest professional quality, including new works commissioned by Players. These events will make educational, arts and cultural enrichment easily accessible for diverse audiences in the Roswell community.
• Atlanta Wind Symphony – arts/cultural services, $2,500: The Symphony will perform six free community concerts - RCAC fall concert; RCAC “Toys for Tots” benefit concert; Instrumental clinic and performance for local elementary schools; RCAC spring concert; Roswell Remembers Memorial Day support; and two patriotic celebration concerts at the Roswell First United Methodist Church, partnering with the RFUMC choir under the direction of Michael O’Neal. Additionally, the AWS Chamber players are developing a “Flash” instrumental music concert concept to perform at Roswell Senior Living centers.
• Friends of Roswell Library – project support, $2,000: For the past nine years, the Friends have collaborated with the Roswell Library and the city of Roswell to present a series of programs centered on the book chosen for the Roswell Reads programs – a community-wide reading program encouraging Roswell residents to share the experience of reading and discussing a common book. Representatives from the Friends, the library, and the city along, with representatives from local high schools and community volunteer, will serve on a committee to select the book and plan programs based on the themes in the book. These programs have covered a wide range of topics, including book discussions, photography contests, panel discussions, rocket demonstrations, and Civil War reenactors.