Public can help fund art projects
By Corey McMaken | The Journal Gazette
A day of theater workshops, a film festival block party and a new choral work – those are the projects in the spring cycle of Arts United's crowdfunding program, AmplifyArt.
Civic Theatre, Cinema Center and the Fort Wayne Children's Choir are seeking funding in the monthlong campaign, which begins today.
“I think that we've got a great variety of projects this cycle,” says Rachelle Reinking, Arts United communications and community relations manager. The projects were selected by a panel of community members.
Each organization will get a seed investment of $1,000 from Arts United and will have donations from the public matched dollar for dollar up to $1,500 by 3Rivers Federal Credit Union. Donations can be made at http://artsunited.org/amplify.
Reinking says AmplifyArt is not a competition between the projects. The program is geared toward getting people more invested in the arts.
“It's about the community at the heart of it,” she says, “and working together to collectively improve the activities and events that happen within the community.”
Representatives from each of the organizations looking for funding shared details of their projects with The Journal Gazette via email.
Civic Theatre
Project: Theatre Arts Day
Goal: $4,000
Hosted by Civic Theatre, this free event will be a day full of workshops on different aspects of theater such as costuming, choreography and building scenery, says marketing director Elise Ramel.
“This is a project that the Civic staff has envisioned doing for quite some time and the funding potential of Amplify Arts! was a perfect fit for the project,” she says.
Money raised will be used for facility rentals, honorariums for presenters and marketing as well as travel expenses for a New York-based theater professional who will be featured in a question-and-answer session.
Ramel says the event is geared toward helping all the theater organizations in town, not just Civic.
“Theatre Arts Day is designed to train and develop a talent pool that can serve all the theatre groups in town,” she says.
Cinema Center
Project: Blocknobben Block Party for Hobnobben Film Festival
Goal: $6,300
Taking place during the annual film festival, the free Blocknobben event includes vendors, food trucks, music and a selection of films.
The party is an integral part of the festival, says Cinema Center Executive Director Margaret Reeder. This year's festival runs June 7-10.
“Blocknobben is expensive to produce, but it is a vital aspect of the festival which allows our local community to participate at no charge,” she says.
Money from the crowdfunding campaign will help pay for operation of the block party including staffing, rentals and entertainment.
Fort Wayne Children's Choir
Project: Guest clinician and commissioned piece for the Three Rivers Choral Festival
Goal: $5,000
James Mulholland, a composer and professor at Butler University, will be commissioned to write a new piece of music for five area high school and university choirs from northeast Indiana to perform at the festival in October, according to the choir's managing director, Amber Bouthot.
This will be the first time an original piece is performed at the annual festival, which draws 300 young people. The festival is a collaboration between the Fort Wayne Children's Choir, Heartland Sings and the IPFW Department of Music. The latter group will soon become the Purdue Fort Wayne School of Music.
Bouthot says the visiting composer will work with each group at their school and workshop with the singers together prior to the festival performance.
“Each year a clinician works with the students at the festival,” she says. “This will be the first year that students are given the opportunity to work with a clinician at their own schools.”
