PNC has a legacy of investing in the arts, as we understand the economic, social and civic impacts that a thriving arts and culture community has on our city,” said Michael Scully, PNC regional president for St. Louis. “The programs we are able to fund through PNC Arts Alive strengthen our visual and performing arts community in St. Louis by creating unique experiences and providing access to the arts for hundreds of thousands of people.
ST. LOUIS, May 7, 2019 – Suburban art tours, hands-on making events and collaborative kids-focused podcasts are among the plans for the 10 St. Louis-area arts organizations receiving grants from the PNC Foundation through PNC Arts Alive.
Now in its ninth year, PNC is contributing $250,000 to arts organizations across the Greater St. Louis region as part of its 10-year commitment to local visual and performing arts. The 2019 grant recipients cover a wide range of disciplines, audiences and participatory experiences from arts groups large and small, encompassing the city and suburban areas. Of the 10 organizations, two local arts organizations are receiving PNC Arts Alive funding for the first time. [See below for full list of grant recipients]
“PNC has a legacy of investing in the arts, as we understand the economic, social and civic impacts that a thriving arts and culture community has on our city,” said Michael Scully, PNC regional president for St. Louis. “The programs we are able to fund through PNC Arts Alive strengthen our visual and performing arts community in St. Louis by creating unique experiences and providing access to the arts for hundreds of thousands of people.”
Since 2010, PNC Arts Alive has provided 102 grants to local, non-profit arts groups across Greater St. Louis. The program has earned local and national commendation from the Missouri Arts Council, the Arts and Education Council in St. Louis and Americans for the Arts in New York City. Additionally, in the spring of 2016, PNC announced it would extend PNC Arts Alive for four more years by granting an additional $1 million.
PNC Arts Alive is a multi-year grant initiative of the PNC Foundation that challenges visual and performing arts organizations to put forth their best, most original thinking in expanding audience participation and engagement. To date, this award-winning program has provided $2.75 million in grants to cultural organizations across the Greater St. Louis area. For more information, visit www.pncartsalive.com.
The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through Grow Up Great, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a bilingual $500 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. To learn more about PNC Grow Up Great, please go to www.pncgrowupgreat.com.
PNC ARTS ALIVE – 2019 GRANT RECIPIENTS
Craft Alliance
Craft on… presented by PNC Arts Alive is a series of social, experience-based events designed to introduce new audiences to the Craft Alliance. Crafting feeds the human spirit, expresses generations of history and creativity, and enhances our community by facilitating personal and community connection. “Craft On...” engages diverse audiences with inclusive experiences that highlight the pleasures and benefits of crafting in improving everyday life, including: a project to "re-craft" Craft Alliance's building facade, hands-on making in public spaces, conversations about crafting, and community collaborations.
craftalliance.org | @craftalliance
MADCO
RESILIENCE presented by PNC Arts Alive takes audiences and students on a restorative path from trauma to healing through stories of survivors. True to MADCO style, collaboration with community leaders and educators informs the choreography in this main stage work. Each piece is inspired by powerful, real-life lessons from those who have come through their darkest days to understand more about themselves and the world around them. When MADCO dancers lend their signature athleticism to this bravely emotional and honest conversation, expect nothing less than a transformative experience.
www.madcodance.com | @madcodance
Metro Theater Company
Metro Theater Company (MTC) will feature GHOST, a co-commissioned play with the Nashville Children’s Theatre. Adapted by award winning playwright Idris Godwin from Jason Reynolds’ 2016 National Book Award Finalist novel, the story follows a struggling middle school boy of color with ambitions to run on his elite track team. In addition to the production, MTC will partner with HEC-TV and its exciting new Educate.Today website. This free website will engage children, classrooms and families in digital learning before, during and after the show. The project aims to create excitement around literacy, reading and live performance; and will spread a message of racial equity, finding and building community, and empowerment to young people.
metroplays.org | @MetroTheater
Opera Theater of St. Louis
During the 2020 festival season, PNC Arts Alive presents Music & the Mind, an Exploration of Health and Art. Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) will stage the world premiere of AWAKENINGS, a new opera based on the groundbreaking neurological work of Dr. Oliver Sacks, which addresses encephalitis lethergica (sleeping sickness). As the company presents this opera, OTSL will seek to engage the innovation, medical, psychology and music therapy communities to further explore the connection between music and the mind.
www.opera-stl.org | @OTSL
Classic 107.3 (Radio Arts Foundation)
PNC Arts Alive Kaleidoscope Podcasts feature music ensembles from area schools, plus interviews with students and administrators. The flexible podcast format introduces students to the music of various world cultures, starting with West Africa. Embedded prompts in each podcast serve as departure points for teachers to explore exotic instruments, history and performance techniques with their students in the classroom. Both of these podcasts will be available on Classic 107.3’s website.
www.rafstl.org | @rafstl
St. Louis Black Rep
The Intergenerational Matinees provide busloads of students and senior citizens from the St. Louis metropolitan area the opportunity to experience live, main stage theatre enhancing their education and life. The Intergenerational Matinees occur every Wednesday morning during the main stage season.
theblackrep.org | @stlblackrep
Shakespeare Festival
Shakespeare in the Streets will use storytelling and live performance to bridge the urban-rural divide by connecting two disparate Midwestern communities: St. Louis, Missouri and Brussels, Illinois. Local residents and professional artists will collaborate to adapt a Shakespeare play to tell the story of their neighborhoods, culminating in free outdoor performances at both locations.
www.sfstl.com | @shakesfeststl
The Luminary
The Luminary’s ambitious new project, Laboratory for Suburbia, will commission artists to create interactive bus tours and cultural gatherings in diverse, suburban St. Louis communities. These pop-up festivals will feature artist-designed bus tours through each community, culminating in gatherings that animate unique locations in the region’s suburban fabric with dynamic programs of performances, talks and film screenings.
theluminaryarts.com | @theluminaryarts
The Muny
In keeping with the Muny’s mission of producing exceptional musical theatre that is accessible to all, PNC Arts Alive Student Access at The Muny will provide deeply discounted student “rush” tickets on selected nights throughout the 2019 Muny season. This program will utilize targeted social media and related digital media to reach high school and college students throughout the St. Louis region.
muny.org | @TheMuny
Union Avenue Opera
Glory Denied: A Veterans Outreach Program presented by PNC Arts Alive will engage veterans and the community through a series of outreach events surrounding the Union Avenue Opera’s production of Tom Cipullo’s opera, Glory Denied.
unionavenueopera.org | @UAOpera
CONTACT:
Whitney Wilson
(214) 871-1209 office
(817) 681-8255 mobile
whitney.wilson@pnc.com
@WhitneyW_PNC
