National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $82 million to fund local arts projects and partnerships in the NEA’s second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2016. Included in this announcement is an Art Works award of $12,000 to the Celebrity Series of Boston to support the Neighborhood Arts community programming. The Art Works category supports the creation of work and presentation of both new and existing work, lifelong learning in the arts, and public engagement with the arts through 13 arts disciplines or fields.
“The arts are all around us, enhancing our lives in ways both subtle and obvious, expected and unexpected,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “Supporting projects like the one from the Celebrity Series of Boston offers more opportunities to engage in the arts every day.”
Gary Dunning, President and Executive Director of the Celebrity Series of Boston said, “We are thrilled that the NEA has recognized the important work of our Neighborhood Arts program. The work of our teaching artists is vital as they reach underserved communities and neighborhoods in Boston. With nearly 100 workshops, concerts, and special events, the Celebrity Series is impacting the next generation of artists and audiences.”
Alongside the main stage performances, Celebrity Series’ Arts for All! community engagement programs reach over 10,000 individuals annually, through master classes with main stage artists in public schools and conservatories; hands-on, interactive workshops for youth led by a core group of Boston artists; free community concerts in Boston neighborhoods; free and discounted tickets to main stage performances; and large-scale, public participatory projects.
Watch a compilation video of some of the Neighborhood Arts activities. Music written and performed by Neighborhood Arts students at the Mattapan Boys and Girls Club with the help of Neighborhood Arts teaching artist John Hanifin.
Watch a video of Neighborhood Arts teaching artist Shaw Pong Liu with third graders at the Hurley School in Boston.
These programs connect Celebrity Series with community collaborators and root the organization more deeply in local neighborhoods, helping fulfill Celebrity Series’ vision of a community of Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, shared experience – on stages, in schools, in homes – everywhere.
About Celebrity Series of Boston
Celebrity Series of Boston was founded in 1938 by pianist and impresario Aaron Richmond. Over the course of its 78-year history, Celebrity Series has presented an array of the world’s greatest performing artists, including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Arturo Toscanini, Ignace Paderewski, Artur Rubenstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Isaac Stern, Andrés Segovia, Kirsten Flagstad, Marian Anderson, Luciano Pavarotti, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Martha Graham, Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mstislav Rostropovich, and the New York City Opera Company.
The Celebrity Series has been bringing the very best performers–from orchestras and chamber ensembles, vocal and piano music, to dance companies, jazz, and more–to Boston’s major concert halls for 78 years. The Celebrity Series of Boston believes in the power of excellence and innovation in the performing arts to enrich life experiences, transform lives and build better communities. Through its education initiatives, the Celebrity Series seeks to build a community of Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, shared experience–on stages, in schools, at home– everywhere.
The Celebrity Series of Boston, Inc. receives generous support from Amy & Joshua Boger, Leslie & Howard Appleby, The Garbis & Arminé Barsoumian Charitable Foundation, the Boston Cultural Council, the Stephanie L. Brown Foundation, Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC, the Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation, Deloitte LLP, Donna & Mike Egan, EMC, Foley & Lardner LLP, Gabor Garai & Susan Pravda, David & Harriet Griesinger, the Charles and Cerise Jacobs Charitable Foundation, Paul L. King, The Royal Little Family Foundation, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Joseph McNay, Stewart Myers, the National Endowment for the Arts, Eleanor & Frank Pao, The Peabody Foundation, PTC, The Cynthia and John S. Reed Foundation, The D.L. Saunders Real Estate Corp., the Stifler Family Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Henri A. Termeer, Tufts Health Plan, Sanjay & Sangeeta Verma, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Nancy Richmond Winsten, Anonymous, and many others.
To join the Twitter conversation about this announcement, please use #NEASpring16. For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, go to arts.gov.
