- The arts community, including hundreds of local children, will benefit from the first year of #PNCArtsAlive contributions in Jacksonville
- 5 local groups plan to boost creativity in visual & performing arts – programs range from Shakespeare theater, hip-hop poetry performances, to a traveling mural project
WEST PALM BEACH, Oct. 13, 2016 – Access to dance performances, the musical power of hip hop, Shakespeare theater, a traveling art mural project, and art labs are among the highlights of five Jacksonville arts organizations which will receive funds totaling $75,000 this year from the PNC Foundation’s Arts Alive program.
The grants are part of a three-year, $185,000 award PNC announced today at the State of the Arts Luncheon to bring PNC Arts Alive to the Jacksonville community. The non-profit winners represents a wide range of disciplines, audiences and participatory experiences from arts groups’ large and small, city and suburban. [See below for the complete descriptions of grant recipients.]
Throughout 2016, PNC has diligently worked with the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville to develop the Arts Alive opportunity locally and bring the initiative to its thriving community.
“The PNC Foundation has been a wonderful partner and we are thrilled they decided to bring PNC Arts Alive to our region’s arts and culture community,” said Antonio Allegretti, executive director, Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville. “I’m confident these grant recipients will inject Jacksonville with innovative and exciting new programs for the entire family. Most importantly, these new resources will have profound effects on our sector and will improve the quality of life through access to art.”
The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville reports that its creative economy has a $2.4 billion impact on the region.
“PNC has a long history of partnering with organizations that strengthen the lives of our local Main Street communities, and our support of Arts Alive a strategic investment in this region,” said Cressman Bronson, PNC regional president for Florida East. “We asked our region’s arts and culture groups to help people experience art in new ways and they delivered on at goal, engaging audiences through a diverse array of innovative programs that showcase Jacksonville at its best.”
Bronson said the arts and culture industry in the state of Florida generates $49.7 billion in annual revenues per the state’s Division of Cultural Affairs, plus creates new jobs, boosts tourism and invigorates businesses.
“The arts impact more than our emotions,” added Bronson. “The bottom line is a strong arts community is a significant driver of economic success. By bringing Arts Alive to Jacksonville, PNC is helping to bring creative and exciting new programs for people of all ages to this community.”
Supporting Arts and Economic Development
Since its debut in 2009, PNC Arts Alive! has awarded approximately $13 million in grants to enterprising cultural organizations in Columbus, Ohio, Philadelphia and St. Louis, communities served by PNC and the PNC Foundation.
PNC Arts Alive has supported new exhibitions and festivals, pop-up theater and music performances, mobile arts vans, family arts programs and more. This award-winning program has earned recognition from Americans for the Arts in New York City along with regional arts organizations.
Grants recipients are selected by a committee composed of officials from arts and community organizations and PNC. Applications for the 2017 season will be posted in March. For more information, please visit www.pncartsalive.com.
The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville champions the appreciation, relevance and expression of art and culture. The Council stewards the City of Jacksonville’s annual appropriation to the arts and culture, contributes to economic vitality through arts and culture initiatives, and leads advocacy efforts to demonstrate the impact and significance of culture in the community. The Cultural Council is sponsored in part by the City of Jacksonville and the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.
The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC), 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 $350 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life.
PNC ARTS ALIVE – 2016 GRANT RECIPIENTS
Jacksonville Dance Theatre’s Bridge Project
Through the PNC Arts Alive program, Jacksonville Dance Theatre’s Bridge Project, will commission a newly choreographed work by dancer and choreographer James Boyd, an African American dance artist with a national and renowned reputation in the field of professional dance. The work will be presented to underserved audiences throughout Jacksonville documented by filmmaker Alexa Velez. To learn more about James Boyd visit http://jamesboyddance.com.
Stage Aurora – Ritz Theatre
The STAGE AURORA MATINEE SERIES, an innovative program designed to introduce professional African-American theatre to underserved audiences in Jacksonville. For the 2016-17, the centerpiece of the project is four to five fully subsidized performances for families, seniors, middle and high school students of low-income status for a total of 2,000 tickets to attend The Ritz Theatre and Museum. The proposed main stage season includes: Dreamgirls, Porgy and Bess, Lion King, Jr., Ain’t Misbehavin’, Drawn From the Water and/or To Kill a Mockingbird. One performance of each production is subsidized at 400 seats for low-income patrons.
Players By The Sea
PBTS presents “Shake Up Shakespeare”, a dynamic program utilizing the contemporary rhythmic and musical power of hip-hop to engage young people in the study of classical works of literature such as William Shakespeare’s plays. Audience members will be encouraged to contribute to the work by adding rhymes and additional content. This program will be brought to the Jacksonville Boys & Girls Clubs and other community venues that serve young people.
Jacksonville Kids Mural Project
The Jax Kid’s Mural Project is a comprehensive mural project that travels to various schools in Jacksonville using art and creativity to inspire and motivate underserved children in the community. They will work with 40 of the most underprivileged schools in Duval County to build a temporary wall at each school, where professional working artists will paint a coloring book-style mural that kids will then work together to paint under the supervision and encouragement of the artist.
Jacksonville Cultural Development – Eastside Arts
Eastside Arts – (Saturday Art Labs) will provide youth access to weekly visual and performing art opportunities to invigorate young people through innovative programs in the arts. These Art Labs serve as a forum for safe expression, communication, exploration and imagination, as well as cultural and historical understanding.
CONTACT:
Zoraya Suarez
(407) 428-0066
zoraya.suarez@pnc.com
