The Salina Arts & Humanities Foundation has approved $23,000 in Horizons Grants for local artists and cultural organizations. The grants were juried and scored by a professional panel with expertise in the granting areas.
Horizons Grants support initiatives that demonstrate a commitment to artistic excellence and community involvement by engaging audience members as active participants. Applicants also are encouraged to develop strategic partnerships to strengthen the reach of their local activities.
Organizational Project grants funded for 2020 are:
Salina Art Center, $6,000 for “Place, Migration, & Diversity” with artist-in-residence Fidencio Fifield-Perez. The Salina Art Center’s artist-in-residence for July 2020, Fifield-Perez will engage community members through workshops and activities. He will create new art for exhibition that explores the immigrant experience in the United States through civic, artistic, and pedagogical dialogues. Fifield-Perez was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, and grew up in the U.S. after his family migrated. His current work examines borders, edges and the people who must traverse them.
Salina Symphony, $6,000 for “The American Journey,” a partnership with the Salina Community Theatre to be presented in January 2021. The concert will feature Peter Boyer’s “Ellis Island: The Dream of America,” a work that celebrates the American immigrant experience. Innovative in its format, “Ellis Island” brings elements of theatre and multimedia into the concert hall, employing actors and projected historical images from the Ellis Island archives. In addition to a public performance, the Symphony and cast will perform “Ellis Island” for an audience of 1,200 grade-school students.
Salina Community Theatre, $5,000 to acquire training to create a naturally articulated puppet for stage productions. In planning for a future production of “The Wizard of Oz,” the Salina Community Theatre will take the exciting step of having some of the anthropomorphic characters presented with naturally articulated puppets, through training by Emmy-nominated designer Nicholas Mahon. SCT staff believes that this will present a unique and exciting representation that will bring richer character possibilities for the “Wizard of Oz” and future productions.
Lana Jordan Developing Artist grants funded for 2020 are:
Sarah Crews, $2,000 for recording and production of “Precious Bird.” The project consists of recording a full-length album of Crews’ original music, to be completed and produced in 2020. Eleven songs will be professionally recorded in collaboration with local musicians who will contribute percussion and other lead instruments.
Judy Lilly, $2,000 for publishing “The Voices Continue,” a revised and expanded version of her historical essay, “The Jayhawking of Salina,” which appeared in The Way West (editor, James Crutchfield, Forge, New York, 2005). The new version will be a 9×6” booklet of 32 pages, with additional information, vintage photographs, maps and a full-color cover. This booklet will be a launching pad for a series of stand-alone essays about Salina and Saline County history called “The Voices Continue,” with a nod to Lilly’s book, Voices from the Valley, published in 1994 with Horizons-grant support.
Isaiah Marcotte, $2,000 for equipment to produce animation for “Limerance: or the internal spectacle of the Adolescent Experience.” Using updated equipment, community members’ assistance, and repurposed material, Marcotte will produce the animation sequences for his film, “Limerence: or the internal spectacle of the adolescent experience.” The final result will be a film that will translate the experience and complications of first love. The sequences will be complete by the end of 2020, with test screening in the late fall.
Horizons is a privately funded grants program made possible by contributions from more than 50 individuals, foundations and businesses, along with the Salina Arts & Humanities Foundation. The SAH Foundation has provided more than $900,000 in support of more than 420 grants since 1986. Salina Arts & Humanities staff provide grant oversight and administration for Saline County artists and organizations. This public-private partnership remains unique in the state and nation.
Salina Arts & Humanities reviews Enrichment Grant proposals for up to $500 on a rolling basis, from February through November 30th each year. The agency will again accept Organizational Project and Developing Artists Grant applications in November 2020. All grant guidelines and applications are available at salinaarts.com.
For any questions about Horizons Grants, please call Anna V. Pauscher at Salina Arts & Humanities at 785-309-5770 between 8:00 a.m. – Noon and 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Salina Arts & Humanities, a department of the City of Salina, has served a unique role in arts advocacy and support since 1966. The Smoky Hill River Festival, Horizons Grants Program, Smoky Hill Museum, Arts Infusion Program in schools, Community Art & Design and the Friday Night Live performance series are among the programs of Salina Arts & Humanities, located at 211 W. Iron Avenue in Salina.
