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2011 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida Arts & Cultural Education Grants Awarded
JACKSONVILLE – The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville is pleased to announce grant awards made through its grantmaking partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF). Six, $5,000 grants have been made to small and mid-sized Northeast Florida cultural organizations for children’s programs that focus on art education, appreciation and awareness, as well as promote multicultural awareness and diversity.
“Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is an outstanding corporate partner and it is an honor to work with these committed community stewards to make a difference in the lives of our young people,” said Robert Arleigh White, Executive Director of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville. “The Cultural Council was pleased to assist in allocating these funds as the partnership demonstrates the cooperative spirit required to sustain and grow our area’s artistic and cultural resources.”
The 2011 BCBSF Arts and Cultural Education Grants were awarded to the following agencies:
ATLANTIC BEACH EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE – The grant will fund a new inter-generational outreach project. Through a structured, facilitated approach that utilizes the arts, seniors will share childhood memories with children participating in ABET’s children’s theatre program. The reminiscences will be crafted into a play, which the children will then perform for the seniors.
DON’T MISS A BEAT – The grant will help support the Music and Arts and Academic Summer Camp Program, which allows participants to experience every facet of theatrical production from costume and set design to budgeting and public relations. Field trips and visits from guest artists will further enrich the experience, which culminates in a public performance.
FRIDAY MUSICALE – The grant will fund a four-concert summer music festival featuring accomplished area students performing classical and jazz music. Students will receive coaching and instruction from professional musicians and educators. Both attendance to the concerts and participation by students will be free.
JACKSONVILLE CHILDREN’S CHORUS – The grant will support the creation of a new Young Men’s Chorus to serve male adolescent voices, a resource that currently does not exist. By forming a choir specifically for the male expanding (changing) voice, appropriate techniques and music can be employed, and boys who enjoy singing can continue through this difficult maturation period.
PLAYERS BY THE SEA – The grant will cover instructional fees for continuing outreach to previously supported theater and drama programs serving children of military and students with special needs attending the Noble School. It will also help fund the new “On a Rainy Day” program for schools (offered free to Title I schools), which uses theater to teach about healthy eating habits.
THEATREWORKS – The grant will help fund “Life Lessons from Page to Stage,” a literature-based program celebrating the differences in others and an appreciation of each person’s individual talents. Students at four elementary schools will receive free tickets to attend a performance of “A Thousand Cranes” at the Florida Theatre and will be provided with in-school performances by “Hobey Ford and his Golden Rod Puppets.”
The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville serves as the local arts agency for Duval County. Its mission is to advance the appreciation and expression of art and culture by increasing community awareness of cultural activities and issues; providing arts education programs; and offering funding and technical assistance to cultural organizations and individual artists. For more information on the Cultural Council and its work, please visit www.culturalcouncil.org.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is a leader in Florida’s health industry. Since 1944, the company has been dedicated to meeting the diverse needs of all those it serves by offering an array of choices. BCBSF is a not-for-profit, policyholder-owned, tax-paying mutual company. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., BCBSF is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information concerning BCBSF, please see its Web site at www.bcbsfl.com .