Grants awarded for Eastern Iowa artistic pursuits

The new year will be thousands of dollars brighter for Eastern Iowa artists and arts organizations, thanks to the following grants:

Hancher

By far the largest grant - $204,000 - has been awarded to the University of Iowa's Hancher Auditorium from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters for its Building Bridges: Arts, Culture and Identity initiative.

The Hancher project, titled 'Embracing Complexity,” aims to increase understanding of contemporary Islamic cultures and Muslim identity. It is to be conducted through 2019, featuring artist residencies on and off campus, with performances, classes, exhibits, discussions and lectures. The project also aims to document the experiences of Muslims in Eastern Iowa, through local stories and oral histories.

Orchestra Iowa

Orchestra Iowa has received a $10,000 Art Works: Music award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the Jazz & Beyond Celebration.

The weeklong festival includes presentations by local jazz artists and ensembles, programs for local high school and college jazz bands, community lectures, panel discussions and a master class. It concludes with concerts featuring jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City on March 10 and the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids on March 11.

University of Northern Iowa

A $10,000 Challenge America grant from the National Endowment for the Arts is to go toward artist fees for interactive performances of 'Farfalle” (Butterflies) by Italy's Compagnia TPO. The all-ages show blends digital imagery with music, dance, art, sculpture, digital media, lighting and sound, and is sensory friendly for people on the autism spectrum.

Performances are slated for 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. May 13 at Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center.

Legion Arts

Humanities Iowa has awarded Legion Arts a $10,000 grant to support the concluding symposium for 'Planting a Thought,” a monthlong, multicity celebration of musician, composer and recording artist Arthur Russell, who died in 1992.

Born in Oskaloosa, he began playing cello as a child and continued studying music in Iowa City and San Francisco. He ended up in New York, becoming part of the artistically innovative downtown scene of the 1970s and '80s.

Legion Arts is organizing the festival in collaboration with FilmScene, Mission Creek Festival, the University of Iowa and other partners, with three weeks of concerts and film screenings in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Oskaloosa and Des Moines.

The festival culminates with a three-day symposium in Iowa City the last week of February.

Additional grants

The following Eastern Iowa cultural organizations and arts projects have received grants from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs:

Cultural Trust Stability grant

' Riverside Theatre, Iowa City - $1,560 toward hiring an engagement manager to expand the theater's fundraising capacity.

Art Project grants

' Sonya Darrow, Cedar Rapids - $10,000 to create 'Stezky/Pathways,” an inter-media art and ethnography project exploring Czech settlements in Iowa, through community collaborations and an exhibit at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

' Coralville Center for the Performing Arts - $7,500 to help establish 'Imagine Tomorrow,” a children's theater education program.

' Northeast Iowa School of Music - $1,400 to help present ChamberFest Dubuque, featuring internationally recognized artists at performances and workshops.

' Grin City Collective - $10,000 for 'Map of Things No Longer Here,” through which residents help design two art projects to honor Grinnell's economic history.

' Damani Phillips, Iowa City - $4,445 for 'Phillips, Gisbert, Bianchi and Nash: Live in Iowa.” Phillips is to create a live jazz album with Pat Bianchi, Lewis Nash and Greg Gisbert, performing at venues across the state.

' Iowa Music Project - $10,000 to present the 'Iowa Music Venue Revue,” a series of podcasts highlighting music venues across the state, through interviews with owners and patrons, and performances by Iowa artists.

' Cornell College - $10,000 for Summer Dance Institute, a weeklong dance residency program exposing young people to various dance styles taught by professional artists.

' Harvey Sollberger, Strawberry Point - $10,000 to develop a recording and tour featuring work created over six decades of composing music in Iowa.