Fund for the Arts Awards Grants Totaling More than $140,000 to Area Schools

Total Amount Awarded is the Largest in Fund for the Arts History; Over 100 Schools in Five Counties to Receive Grants

Louisville, KY — The Fund for the Arts is awarding over $140,000 in grants to more than 100 area schools to give teachers an opportunity to bring Arts programming, offered by Fund for the Arts member groups, to their students. The total amount currently being awarded more than triples the amount awarded in previous years and is the result of a successful 2006 fundraising campaign. The Teacher Initiated Grants are made possible through the Fund for the Arts new Every Child Initiative, a new program to ensure that all area student’s have the opportunity to experience as many Arts programs as possible offered by Fund for the Arts member group during their K – 12 tenure.

“We were simply overwhelmed by the need for the Teacher Initiated Grant program,” said Cowen. “There were over 150 applications submitted from 71 schools in Jefferson County alone and we tried to make sure that as many schools as possible received funding.” Schools receiving funding from the Fund for the Arts are located throughout Kentuckiana in Bullitt, Hardin, Nelson, Jefferson, Oldham and Shelby Counties in Kentucky and the West Clark and Clarksville School Districts in Indiana

Cowen also explained that the recipient school districts each had active Fund for the Arts employee/workplace campaigns. “We wanted to give back to those schools that have supported the Fund for the Arts year after year.  From principals to teachers to school crossing guards, we know that those individuals who work closest with our children recognize the value of Arts in their student’s curriculum.”

Requests were made for ticket subsidies, bus transportation and in-school residencies. Marc Masterson, Artistic Director of Actors Theatre said, “The new Teacher Initiated Grants program is an exciting opportunity to bring Actors’ educational programs to more students throughout this community.” As an example, Actors Theatre brings its playwriting workshops into high schools through the Teacher Initiated Grants program, as well as offers reduced ticket prices and school bus allowances for classrooms of students to attend performances such as A Christmas Carol.

The Teacher Initiated Grants program is made possible by gifts to the Fund for the Arts campaign, Louisville Metro Government, the Alcoa Foundation and Irwin Union Bank. Please see attached pages for a list of area schools receiving Arts grants from the Fund for the Arts.

Fund for the Arts

Celebrating 30 Years of Employee/Workplace Giving to the Arts! The Fund for the Arts provides programming and administrative support to twenty-four member groups and programs, including grants to nearly 200 community organizations and schools, throughout the Louisville, Kentucky region.  The Fund for the Arts is the oldest united arts fund in the country and has raised over $110 million in the community since its establishment in 1949.