Batavia Arts Council to award $2,500 in grants

The Batavia Arts Council will be awarding $2,500 in grant funding in the next month.

Its mission is to support the arts in Batavia, raising funds throughout the year in its effort to award grants and scholarships to artists and art groups in the community.

In 2013, the first grant was a $500 award issue to the Batavia Unit District 101's art department to help purchase a Pug Mill, which reclaims clay to reuse in pottery projects. The Pug Mill can save the art department hundreds of dollars in materials each year allowing funds to be spent on other needs.

In 2014, the Batavia Arts Council doubled the award amount, issuing funds to both Water Street Studios and Fox Valley Orchestra.

A grant for $750 was awarded to Water Street Studios for the Art Flow program. Art Flow at H.C. Storm Elementary School is an after-school arts education program for students in second through fifth grades with a focus on children who are low income, limited English proficient, and who are at academic risk. Special emphasis in this program is on the association between mathematics and art.

The Fox Valley Orchestra received $250 to be used toward continuing the Do-It-Yourself Messiah Concert which is held annually at the Batavia Fine Arts Centre.

This year, the Batavia Arts Council is more than doubling its funding from last year, with $2,500 to be given away.

Applications are being accepting through May 1, and the forms for either an individual grant or an organizational grant are available on the website at www.BataviaArtsCouncil.org. Awards will be announced and issued in June, and the projects must be completed within the next 12 months. Applications must be submitted by May 1 for review.

In an effort to once again increase the amount of financial support it can offer the community, the Batavia Arts Council has planned numerous fundraising events this coming year, including a "Grease" singalong movie event, Batavia Historic Cemetery Walk, the annual polo tournament and Halloween Hooligan events, and a performance of an original play by local playwright Donna Latham, "A Midnight Clear, The Christmas Truce of 1914."

For more information on the events and the grant applications, visit the Batavia Art Council website at www.BataviaArtsCouncil.org.