Montco Gets $10,000 Arts Grant, Will Tell Stories Of Immigrants

BLUE BELL, PA — Great news for supporters of the arts: Montgomery County Community College's "Lively Arts Series" has received a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.

The grant will support the college's efforts to connect and grow communities through civic arts initiatives.

“For more than 30 years, MCCC has been hosting renowned performing artists and fostering these types of events to further critical conversations,” said Brent Woods, Senior Director of Cultural Affairs at MCCC. “As part of our work, we frequently bring the arts to the youth in the community through performances and workshops, and we are grateful to receive this generous grant from NEA to expand and continue our work.”

The Lively Arts Series features the work of David Gonzalez, whose "Finding North" one person show tells the stories of the African-American underground railroad as well as the stories of contemporary immigrants. One goal of the project is to "reconstruct the discussion around immigration."

With the grant, Gonzalez will also be able to work with students in a program at Eisenhower Science & Technology Leadership Academy, where students will have the chance to interview Norristown residents and work to tell their stories through poetry. The project is entitled “Finding Comunidad: An Inter-generational Storytelling of Norristown" and the college says it will be performed in Dec. 2018.

NEA provides similar grants to 4,500 communities across the United States.

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