Tucson Pima Arts Council Awards $165,000 in Grants to support stabilization of 31 Arts Organizations

TUCSON, AZ – Thirty one local arts and culture organizations will receive a total of $165,000 in sustainability grants from the Tucson Pima Arts Council.

Funded by the City of Tucson through TPAC, these grants will help nonprofit organizations address priorities that will help them sustain, thrive and grow during these challenging economic times, according to Leia Maahs, TPAC grants and community cultural development manager.

“As government funding for the arts diminished, TPAC re-envisioned its grants process and focused on using public monies to strengthen our local arts and culture organizations and grow the vitality of our city’s creative culture for the long term,” Maahs said.

The grants are a direct response to the current economic climate. They support creative thinking and leadership in the nonprofit arts and cultural sector.

“These awards are resources that will support the dynamic adaptability of our cultural community as it moves through this sputtering economy. They also affirm the public’s support of Tucson’s diverse art organizations and their valuable contribution to our civic well-being.” Says Roberto Bedoya, TPAC’s Executive Director.

TPAC awarded eight $2,500 grants, seventeen $5,000 grants and six $10,000 grants. A total of 46 organizations applied, detailing the challenges they were facing and how the grant would sustain operations, strengthen management capacity and further the mission of the organization.

Recipients of the $10,000 grants were among the first to submit information through the Arizona Cultural Data Project, part of a national database sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Organizations input detailed background including financial, programmatic, demographic and operational data one time, then continue to access and update the information into the future.

To date, Arizona is one of 11 states participating in the project that began in 2004 after four years of research and a $2.3 million investment by The Pew Charitable Trusts in the Cultural Data Project. Until then there had been no standardized system for gathering cultural data.

As use of the database expands, local organizations will have increased visibility and opportunities. Funders around the nation use this information plan and evaluate grant-making activities.

In addition to TPAC, other organizations in Arizona using this database for grant funding include the Arizona Commission on the Arts, City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, Flagstaff Cultural Partners, Flinn Foundation and Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust.

The database also helps participating organizations to easily track trends and benchmark their progress through sophisticated reporting tools.

Through sustainability grants, the new database project, economic impact research and community cultural development projects, TPAC’s Grants Program is committed to provide the resources organizations need to increase their capacity, leverage new resources and support the growth of a vibrant and diverse nonprofit arts and culture community in Tucson, Arizona Maahs said.

The grant recipients are:

$10,000 – Arizona Theatre Company, Loft Cinema, The Drawing Studio, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Tucson Museum of Art and Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

$5,000 – Ballet Arts Foundation, Beowulf Alley Theatre, Borderlands Theatre, Chax Press, Kore Press, Live Theatre Workshop, NEW ARTiculations Dance Theatre, Odaiko Sonora, Pan Left Productions, The Rogue Theatre, Tucson Arts Brigade, Tucson Chamber Artists, Tucson Literacy Movement, Tucson Meet Yourself, Tucson Pops Orchestra, Warehouse Arts Management Organization and ZUZI! Dance Company.

$2,500 – FUNHOUSE Movement Theatre, Lead Guitar, Safos Dance Theatre, Sons of Orpheus – The Male Choir of Tucson, Studio Connections of Arizona, The Symphony Women’s Association, Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association and Winding Road Theatre Ensemble.

TPAC has served as the arts agency for both the City of Tucson and Pima County for more than 25 years. TPAC awards grants, oversees public art programs, offers professional development services to artists and arts leaders, and maintains a roster of teaching artists for community projects and public art. TPAC also partners with Americans for the Arts on economic impact research and implements community-based cultural development projects with the Kresge Foundation and Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. For more information call (520) 624-0595 or visit www.tucsonpimaartscouncil.org.