Arts & Entertainment
Regional Arts Commission Awards $2.9 Million in Grants
For arts and cultural organizations and programs in the St. Louis area.
The (RAC), the area’s largest annual funder of the arts dedicated to the cultivation, promotion and fostering of cultural programming in the St. Louis region, has awarded 186 grants totaling more than $2.9 million to support nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, consortiums, and programs in the St. Louis area.
Since it was created in 1985, RAC has awarded more than 5,800 grants totaling more than $76 million.
“I’m delighted that the amount we awarded in grants has increased by 6.7 percent from last year,” said Jill McGuire, executive director of RAC. “We look forward to a robust future for arts and culture in St. Louis.”
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Each grant request is carefully reviewed and discussed in an open, public forum by citizen panels, staff members and the Commissioners who contribute many long hours to evaluation and assessment.
RAC instituted a ranking system to enhance and improve the panelist review process on the basis of eight criteria:
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- Quality of programs
- Innovative ideas
- Fiscal health
- Cultural diversity
- Local/regional impact
- Community outreach
- Management capability and
- Need in the community
The grant recipients represent the breadth and diversity of arts and culture in St. Louis, both in size and scope, from large institutions such as The Black Rep and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra to smaller programs such as the Saint Louis University Museum of Religious Art and the Community Health-In-Partnership Services.
Grants to University City organizations are as follows:
$99,296 International Folk Dance Association U.City $2,100 / The Center for the Humanities $3,150 Cinema St. Louis $15,498 Interchange/COCA $12,040 Washington University - Edison Theatre $13,000 University City Music Co. (UCity Summer Band) $600
University City Symphony Orchestra $4,000 St. Louis Walk of Fame $3,300 University City Municipal Comm. on Arts & Letters $1,661 $37,800 $40,446 Historical Society of University City (Quilt Show) $2,000 The Gallery, $1,725 $3,870 Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum $5,000
Click here for a full list of grant recipients.
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