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ArtsErie to Celebrate 50 Years of Supporting the Arts in Erie at Annual Fall for the Arts Celebration

posted on: Thursday, October 28, 2010

2010 ArtsErie Arts Appreciation Award honorees announced;
public reception slated for Tuesday, Nov. 9


ERIE, PA — ArtsErie will celebrate a major milestone, its 50th birthday, at its annual Fall for the Arts event. “We liked the idea of celebrating a birthday and have planned our Fall for the Arts to be a big birthday party,” stated Charlotte Mashyna, ArtsErie executive director.

The event will be held on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Hemingway Room at the Ambassador Center (7794 Peach Street, Erie). Doors will open at 5:15 p.m. with the presentations beginning at 5:30 p.m. ArtsErie will share highlights from its 50 years of service to Erie County throughout the evening.

Also at the event, ArtsErie will honor individuals and groups for their contributions to the arts community with Arts Appreciation Awards. Honorees for 2010 include the Corry Community Foundation, which will receive the Leadership in the Arts Award; Union City Area School District, which will receive the Imagine Award; and Andrew Kauffman, who will receive the Applause Award for the Arts and Drafts Festival. According to Mashyna, the nominations for the awards came from a variety of community sources. “We’re excited to be able to honor the work that is being done out in the county this year,” Mashyna noted.

In addition to the awards, ArtsErie will thank its ArtsErie United Fund contributors and recognize ArtsErie Grantees. The birthday party will immediately follow the presentations.

Major sponsors for Fall for the Arts are Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and Erie Insurance. Additional sponsors include BNY/Mellon, Samuel P. Black & Associates and the Knox Law Firm.

For more information or to inquire about remaining tickets, priced at $10 each, please contact ArtsErie at 814-452-3427 or info@ArtsErie.org.


About ArtsErie
ArtsErie strives to nurture the arts and enrich the lives of the people of northwestern Pennsylvania through leadership, financial support, education and advocacy. Additional information about ArtsErie is available online at www.ArtsErie.org.

Rep. Dahlkemper Announces $1.1 Million to ArtsErie for Project Benefitting Local Elementary Students

posted on: Monday, September 13, 2010

Erie, Pa.—Congresswoman Dahlkemper (PA-3) today announced Arts Erie has been awarded $1,122,733 in federal funding for their new project, Art in Action, to strengthen arts experiences in local elementary schools. The funds will support Art in Action for four years, serving about 900 local students annually by incorporating the arts into their classroom curricula. The program will also create local teaching opportunities for artists and educators.

“Incorporating the arts into the classroom helps keep students engaged in learning, can improve their performance in school and cultivates a lifelong appreciation for the arts. ArtsErie is providing a wonderful service to our local students, encouraging their creativity and enhancing their experience in the classroom. The Art in Action program will also create local jobs for Erie’s art and education community. I applaud ArtsErie for their work in developing this exceptional new program,” said Rep. Dahlkemper.

The funding was awarded through the Department of Education’s Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination grant program (AEMDD). Of 200 applicants from throughout the United States for the AEMDD grant program, only 33 were chosen to receive funds, including ArtsErie.

ArtsErie will partner with Union City Elementary School, Second District Elementary School in Meadville, Cambridge Springs Elementary School, and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania for Art in Action over the next four years. Resident artists will be assigned to up to forty-eight classrooms of students in grades PK-6 each year. For nine weeks, these artists will infuse arts-based instruction into the classroom to improve student achievement and engagement.

“ArtsErie is thrilled that the Department of Education has recognized the value of the work we’ve been doing for many years. I’m excited to be able to bring this wonderful opportunity to these students and to witness the positive changes that will surely take place because of Art in Action,” said M. Holly Nowak, Project Director for Art in Action and Program Manager of Arts in Education for ArtsErie.

In addition to the advantages for the students, more than 60 elementary school teachers will benefit from ongoing training and professional development to help enhance their teaching skills through the arts, including an opportunity for a three-credit graduate course at Edinboro University. Art in Action will undergo an ongoing evaluation process to measure the program’s effectiveness for the students. The evaluation results will be made available to the education community to share the successes and lessons of the program with other schools.

ArtsErie’s Art in Action project is also creating jobs and business opportunities in the area. In addition to the resident artists in the classroom, art specialists will help facilitate teacher training and retired teachers will observe classrooms as part of the program evaluation, which is being managed by KeyStone Research Corporation in Erie.

The AEMDD grant program stipulates projects must serve at least one elementary or middle school in which 35 percent or more of the children enrolled are from low-income families. One hundred percent of the total costs of the program or project will be financed with federal money.

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Arts Appreciation Award nominations accepted through August 5

posted on: Wednesday, July 14, 2010

ERIE, PA Each year ArtsErie salutes individuals and groups for their contributions to the arts community by presenting them with ArtsErie Arts Appreciation Awards. Nominations are now being accepted for the 2010 ArtsErie Arts Appreciation Awards.

 

Individuals and organizations are urged to use the nominating form on the ArtsErie Web site at http://artserie.org/events/arts_awards.htm to submit nominations by the end of the day on Thursday, August 5, 2010 to honor achievements in any of the three categories.

 

  • The Leadership in Arts Award recognizes a business, government, or foundation that (1) has exhibited long term art support, or (2) whose work has had a significant impact on the region’s arts/cultural landscape, or (3) has demonstrated a successful collaboration between an arts organization and business.

 

  • The Applause Award recognizes a dedicated individual(s) or group whose outstanding volunteerism and contributions, either currently or in the past, have supported ArtsErie or the arts in our community.

 

  • The Imagine Award recognizes an educator, instructor, or individual whose efforts have made an outstanding contribution to the enhancement of arts education by consistently inspiring and encouraging arts excellence in their students or an education affiliate (PTA, Board of Ed., Performing Arts/Music School) or other organization that has demonstrated outstanding efforts to evoke interest and understanding in the arts both having worked over time to implement excellence in and for arts education.

 

In 2009, ArtsErie saluted Citadel Broadcasting (Leadership Award); Inner-City Neighborhood Art House (Imagine Award); and Barbara Hauck (Applause Award). A complete list of past Arts Appreciation Award recipients is available at www.ArtsErie.org.

 

Awards will be presented on November 9, 2010 at ArtsErie’s 50th Anniversary celebration.

 

About ArtsErie

ArtsErie strives to nurture the arts and enrich the lives of the people of northwestern Pennsylvania through leadership, financial support, education and advocacy. Additional information about ArtsErie is available online at www.ArtsErie.org.

 

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Erie County Cultural Master Plan released

posted on: Friday, May 21, 2010

Key recommendations made for cultural development in Erie County


ERIE, PAArtsErie, The Nonprofit Partnership and participants in the CultureSpark planning process today announced the completion of the Erie County Cultural Master Plan. The announcement took place at Noon at the Mercantile Building, 1401 State Street, Erie, and included a special preview opportunity of the new Northwestern PA Artists Association (NPAA) exhibit "The Mercantile Show."

 

Speakers Mary Ellen Dahlkemper, CultureSpark steering committee chair and Stairways Behavioral Health chief administrative officer; Char Mashyna, ArtsErie executive director and CultureSpark facilitator; Tom Ferraro, CultureSpark working committee member and NPAA co-director; Bob Wooler, The Nonprofit Partnership director; and Barry Grossman, Erie County Executive, provided an overview of the planning process and the recommendations from the community, as well as a preview of implementation plans.

 

"We're already seeing the impact that the CultureSpark planning process and the Erie County Cultural Master Plan will have on our region — from new grant opportunities to new partnerships between community organizations and officials," said Char Mashyna, executive director of ArtsErie, one of the lead sponsors of CultureSpark.

 

The final 88-page report, prepared by consultant Bill Bulick of Creative Planning, Portland, Ore., who has been involved with cultural planning for over 20 years, contains 35 individual recommendations. The recommendations fall under six categories of critical issues chosen by the CultureSpark Steering Committee as offering the best opportunities for strategy development: Joint Marketing; Countywide Services; Cultural Education; Individual Artists and Creators; Community Development; and Resources and Information.

 

The 6-page Executive Summary highlights nine key recommendations that have the greatest potential impact on the 10-year CultureSpark vision for cultural development in Erie County and which are, in brief:

  1. Launch a joint marketing initiative.
  2. Create a Central Cultural Website.
  3. Countywide Cultural Development.
  4. Increase cultural education opportunities in K-12.
  5. Enhance professional development, marketing and support for individual artists and creators.
  6. Develop a Cultural Center, or centers.
  7. Increase private fundraising.
  8. Secure a sustainable government/public dedicated funding source.
  9. Develop new partnerships that improve and enhance the relationship among community leadership, governments, civic organizations, colleges/universities and arts, culture and heritage.

 

The final documents will serve as a ten-year plan for arts, culture and heritage in Erie County. An action team is forming to implement the cultural plan's recommendations. Erie County residents interested in participating in the implementation of the cultural plan should contact Char Mashyna at 814-452-3427 or char@artserie.org to learn more.

 

CultureSpark received funding from ArtsErie, The Erie Community Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Erie County, through a grant from the Unrestricted Gaming Revenue. The Erie Community Foundation has donated an additional $10,000 to ArtsErie to help with administration and implementation costs.

 

For additional information about CultureSpark and to review the executive summary and final plan in their entirety, visit www.CultureSparkErie.org.

 

About CultureSpark

CultureSpark is a year-long cultural planning process, implemented by ArtsErie and The Nonprofit Partnership, which is designed to identify the issues, strengths and challenges for cultural development throughout Erie County. Bill Bulick of Creative Planning, Portland, Ore. is facilitating the process, assisted by Surale Phillips of Decision Support Partners, Bozeman, Mont.


Arts project funding available from PA Partners in the Arts

posted on: Saturday, May 15, 2010

ArtsErie to host free workshops in Erie, Crawford, Warren counties to assist prospective applicants

ERIE, PA — ArtsErie announces that applications are now available for the 2010-11 Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA) Project Stream grants. The PPA program provides opportunities for arts organizations, individual artists and community-based groups to apply for up to $3,000 in funding to support performances, exhibitions and other arts projects that are presented to the public and take place between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011. ArtsErie supports the program in Crawford, Erie and Warren counties.

ArtsErie will conduct free workshops to provide more information on the program, and to guide prospective applicants through the application process.

ArtsErie PPA Grant Workshop Schedule:

• Meadville: Thursday, May 20 @ 6:00 p.m.
Meadville Council on the Arts
Meadville Market House, 910 Market Street, Meadville

• Warren: Monday, May 24 @ 5:30 p.m.
Warren Main Street Office 310 Second Avenue, Warren

• Titusville: Tuesday, May 25 @ 4:00 p.m.
Titusville Town Square, 4th Floor Conference Room (take elevator)
110 West Spring Street, Titusville

• Erie: Thursday, May 27 @ 5:30 p.m.
Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul, 134 W. 7th Street, Erie

Please contact Char Mashyna at char@artserie.org or by phone at (814) 452-3427 to register for one of the workshops.

PPA Project Stream guidelines and grant applications are available in advance at www.ArtsErie.org, at the ArtsErie office at 3 East 4th Street in Downtown Erie or accessed directly online at pca.eGrant.org. Applications are due postmarked, or submitted electronically through the eGrant system, on or before Fri., June 18, 2010 at 4 p.m.

The PPA program is a partnership initiative between local arts organizations and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA), a state agency. State government funding for the arts comes through an annual appropriation by the Pennsylvania General Assembly and from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. ArtsErie administers the PPA program in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Additional information about ArtsErie is available online at www.ArtsErie.org.

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ArtsErie to host key PA arts leader at Wednesday reception

posted on: Friday, May 14, 2010

Community invited to meet Pa. Council on the Arts Executive Director Philip Horn

 

 

 

ERIE, PA — ArtsErie will host a reception on Wednesday, May 19 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Cummings Gallery at Mercyhurst College with Philip Horn, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA). ArtsErie invited Horn to travel to northwestern Pa. to meet PCA partners in Ridgway and Erie.  

 

The reception will provide an opportunity for Horn and the PCA to become better acquainted with the organizations and projects that the PCA funds in this region. Additionally, attendees will be able to learn more about the status of state funding for the arts and reinforce the value of funding community arts planning.

 

Northwestern Pennsylvania is one of the top recipients of funding by the PCA.

 

Call ArtsErie at 452-3427 for more information or to confirm attendance. Additional information about ArtsErie is available online at www.ArtsErie.org and about the PCA at www.pacouncilonthearts.org.

 

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Two Book Signings Scheduled with Cartoonist George Broderick, Jr.

posted on: Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Pittsburgh-based cartoonist visits Erie as part of Meet the Artist Day,
sponsored by ArtsErie and the PA Council on the Arts


ERIE, PA — ArtsErie invites the public to meet cartoonist George Broderick, Jr., who has written stories for DC Comics, Marvel Comics and more. The Pittsburgh-based comic book artist and writer, previously scheduled for a series of workshops and a public book signing at Harding Elementary School on Tuesday, May 4, has extended his stay to include a book signing open to the public on Monday, May 3 at Erie Book Store, 137 East 13th Street, Erie.

Broderick’s public schedule includes the following two book signings:

Monday, May 3, 4–6 pm
Erie Book Store
137 East 13th Street
Erie, PA 16503

Tuesday, May 4, 2–3 pm

Harding Elementary School Lobby*
820 Lincoln Avenue
Erie, PA 16505
•   The Harding School Lobby will be open to the public during this hour only.
 
Copies of his books will be available for purchase and signing at both events.

Broderick has worked as a professional in comics since 1982. Since then, he has written stories for DC Comics, Marvel Comics and handled both scripting and editing on the “LOST IN SPACE” and “QUANTUM LEAP” comic books for InnovationPublishing and editing on “LOST IN SPACE: Voyage To The Bottom Of The Soul” for Bubblehead Publishing.

While in Erie, Broderick also will be offering workshops to students at Harding Elementary School. Since September 2009, Harding Elementary School teacher Jeanne Kraus and her fourth grade students have been enjoying the cartooning talents of Mike Bocianowski, a local graphic artist and animation instructor. Bocianowski is in 'Residence' at Harding Elementary through a Grant from the PA Council on the Arts known as a Teacher Artist Partnership or TAP. He arranged Broderick’s visit as part of Meet the Artist Day, sponsored by ArtsErie and the PA Council on the Arts.

For more information about George Broderick, Jr., visit www.georgebroderick.com or www.coolyulecomics.com.

About ArtsErie
ArtsErie strives to nurture the arts and enrich the lives of the people of northwestern Pennsylvania through leadership, financial support, education and advocacy. Additional information about ArtsErie is available online at www.ArtsErie.org.

About the PA Council on the Arts
The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts is a state agency under the Governor’s Office that works to foster the excellence, diversity and vitality of the arts in Pennsylvania and to broaden the availability and appreciation of those arts throughout the state. For more information on the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, visit www.pacouncilonthearts.org.  

CultureSpark encourages attendance at key community meeting

posted on: Monday, April 12, 2010

Community invited to review preliminary Erie County cultural plan at April 14 forum


ERIE, PA — CultureSpark, the year-long cultural planning process designed to identify the issues, strengths and challenges for cultural development throughout Erie County, invites all Erie County residents to be a part of an open meeting to review the draft of the cultural plan.

The CultureSpark community meeting is scheduled for Wed., April 14 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Jordan Room, 5240 Knowledge Parkway in Knowledge Park (located just north of the I-90 exit at Station Road). Bill Bulick, the consultant for this project, will present and review the preliminary Erie County cultural plan with those in attendance. In addition, there will be opportunities for attendees to comment on the proposed plan.

Bulick, who has been involved with cultural planning for over 20 years, also will present the draft of the cultural plan to the CultureSpark Steering Committee and Task Forces during his visit to Erie in April. Comments received during this review process will help inform the final version of the Erie County cultural plan, to be released in May.

For the past year, many people throughout Erie County have participated in various phases of developing a countywide cultural plan. By engaging in facilitated group discussions, participants have helped Erie County define its cultural future by contributing their experience, imagination and concrete ideas.

RSVPs for the CultureSpark community meeting are appreciated in advance by telephone to 814-452-3427 or by email to info@culturesparkerie.org. For additional information about CultureSpark and to review the cultural plan draft in advance, visit www.CultureSparkErie.org.

About CultureSpark

CultureSpark is a year-long cultural planning process, implemented by ArtsErie and The Nonprofit Partnership, which is designed to identify the issues, strengths and challenges for cultural development throughout Erie County. Bill Bulick of Creative Planning, Portland, Ore. is facilitating the process, assisted by Surale Phillips of Decision Support Partners, Bozeman, Mont.

ArtsErie Announces Poetry Out Loud Regional Champion

posted on: Monday, March 01, 2010

Winner to Compete in State Finals on March 15

ERIE, PA —
ArtsErie announces that Katelyn Clarahan, a home-schooled high school freshman from Franklin, Pa., has been selected as the winner of the regional finals of the Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program, created by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation, which encourages the study of poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country.

ArtsErie and the PA Council on the Arts presented the 2010 regional competition, held Saturday, February 20, 2010 at Allegheny College in Meadville. This year, four students participated in the regional finals. In addition to Clarahan, the following students competed: Lucy Crozier, junior, Meadville High School, Meadville; Rachel Golden, sophomore, Mercyhurst Preparatory School, Erie; and Nate Repasz, senior, NW PA Collegiate Academy, Erie.

Clarahan is the daughter of Robert and Terri Clarahan, who is also her teacher, and a member of the Western PA Christian Orators homeschool speech club, taught by Gaye Welton. She was awarded an all-expense-paid trip to the Pennsylvania state finals for Poetry Out Loud, to be held on Monday, March 15, 2010 at the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg. There, she will be among 13 students from across the state vying for the opportunity to compete at the national finals, to be held in April 2010 in Washington, D.C., where Poetry Out Loud will award $50,000 in scholarships and school prizes.

Contestants in Poetry Out Loud memorize and recite works they select from an anthology of more than 500 classic and contemporary poems. Students then advance to the National Finals through competitions at the classroom, school, regional and state levels. The judges for the 2010 regional competition were ArtsErie Poetry Out Loud coordinator Lora Zill; as well as Donna Baker; Robyn Crago; Jan Hyatt; and Mary Morris.

The 2009-10 academic year marks ArtsErie's fifth year as regional host for area high schools. High Schools in Erie, Crawford, Warren, Mercer, Lawrence, Venango, Forest, McKean, Potter, Elk and Cameron were eligible to compete as part of ArtsErie's region.

To receive information about participating in next year’s competition, contact Holly Nowak, ArtsErie’s Arts in Education Program Manager, at (814) 452-3427. Additional information about Poetry Out Loud is available online at www.poetryoutloud.org

ArtsErie to host regional Poetry Out Loud recitation contest

posted on: Monday, February 15, 2010

ERIE, PA — ArtsErie, in partnership with the PA Council on the Arts, will host the 2010 regional Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest on Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 11 a.m. The competition will take place in the black box theatre of the Vukovich Center at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa. Poetry Out Loud is a program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition.

The 2009-10 academic year marks ArtsErie's fifth year as regional host for area high schools. High Schools in Erie, Crawford, Warren, Mercer, Lawrence, Venango, Forest, McKean, Potter, Elk and Cameron are eligible to compete as part of ArtsErie's region. The competition will be judged by poets and writers from Erie, Pittsburgh and Meadville.

ArtsErie's winner will advance to the state competition in March, which will take place in Harrisburg. The state champion will advance to the National Finals, which will be held in Washington, DC in April 2010.

The Poetry Out Loud program builds upon the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as seen in the slam poetry movement. Poetry Out Loud invites the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word and theater into the English class. Through Poetry Out Loud, students can master public speaking skills, build self-confidence and learn about their literary heritage.

For more information about Poetry Out Loud, visit www.PoetryOutLoud.org.


About ArtsErie

ArtsErie strives to nurture the arts and enrich the lives of the people of northwestern Pennsylvania through leadership, financial support, education and advocacy. Additional information about ArtsErie is available online at www.ArtsErie.org.