ArtsBuild (formerly Allied Arts) received $91,400 in grant funding from the Tennessee Arts Commission (TAC). TAC awarded a total of three grants to ArtsBuild including: Major Cultural Institutions (MCI) grant of $68,500, Arts Build Communities (ABC) grant of $15,900, and Arts Education: Teacher Training grant of $7,000.
“The Tennessee Arts Commission’s continued funding is vital to ArtsBuild’s sustainability and to the fulfillment of our mission to build a stronger community through the arts,” said Dan Bowers, President of ArtsBuild. “The TAC is the backbone of the arts in this state and their ongoing support of ArtsBuild is validation that Chattanooga is a leader in utilizing the arts to strengthen our community.”
Funded under an agreement with the TAC and the National Endowment for the Arts, the $68,500 MCI grant is designated for “general, non-project support to well-established Chattanooga arts organizations.”
The objective of the $15,900 ABC grant award is to build communities by nurturing artists, arts organizations, and arts supporters. The award, funded by the Tennessee General Assembly and administered in cooperation with the TAC and ArtsBuild, provides funds for a variety of quality arts projects.
ArtsBuild received $7,000 for an Arts Education Teacher Training grant, which is awarded to arts organizations who provide outstanding professional development opportunities for educators in arts integration instruction techniques and curriculum planning. The grant funds will cover the expenses of two workshop leaders from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts who will guide teachers through intensive workshops and hands-on coaching that strengthen literacy instruction through the arts.
ArtsBuild and the Hamilton County Department of Education are participants in the Partners in Education Program with the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The Partners in Education Program supports the development of arts professional development workshops for classroom teachers. 2014 marks ArtsBuild’s eleventh year of partnering with the Tennessee Arts Commission, HCDE, and the Kennedy Center to provide these workshops to local educators.
When the Tennessee Arts Commission was created in 1967, it was given a special mandate by the General Assembly to stimulate and encourage the presentation of performing, visual and literary arts throughout the state and to encourage public interest in the cultural heritage of Tennessee. Through a variety of programs, the Commission has encouraged excellence in artistic expression through the state's artists and arts organizations. That commitment has continued to expand through the years to ensure that the citizens of Tennessee have access to and the opportunity to participate in the arts.