U.S. REP. RON BARBER WELCOMES $120,000 IN FUNDING FROM NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF THE ARTS

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Ron Barber today welcomed an announcement that five Tucson organizations have received a total of $120,000 in grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

“Tucson and Southern Arizona have exceptionally vibrant arts communities,” Barber said today. “This important funding from the National Endowment for the Arts will help ensure that these five organizations continue to provide residents with outstanding music, theater and other uplifting forms of expression.”

The Southern Arizona organizations receiving NEA grants are:

• Tucson-Pima Arts Council Inc. will receive $60,000 to support artists and arts organizations in southern Arizona. The council supports projects designed to provide opportunities for artists and arts organizations to engage in cultural activities that advance community and build social cohesion.
• The Tucson Symphony Society will receive $20,000. The funding will allow elementary through high school students to compose original works for orchestra, culminating in public performance sessions of their work by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the TSO String Quartet.
• The Arizona Theatre Company will receive $20,000 for the development of new Latino work that will foster meaningful Latino audience engagement. It will open with Herbert Siguenza’s “An Evening with Pablo Picasso” performed in both Spanish and English, and will culminate in a new commission by playwright-in-residence Elaine Romero.
• Borderlands Theater Teatro Fronterizo Inc. will receive $10,000 to support its work championing the development and production of new plays while putting on performances of established playwrights for the community at large.  Their focus on issues relevant to our region and current events facing the border area highlight their role as a prominent voice for the diversity in our community.
• Kore Press Inc. will receive $10,000 to publish works by authors such as TC Tolbert, Myha T. Do, Sarah Mangold, Katy Resch, Nina Pick and Jenny Gropp Hess. The updated website will include the new “Kore Quarterly” journal, as well as audio and educational materials.

The grants are part of $29.13 million that was awarded to 1,118 organizations nationwide. The funding came in three categories: art works, challenge America and NEA literature fellowships in creative writing.

The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $5 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities.

NEWS RELEASE
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014

CONTACT
Mark Kimble
Communications Director
mark.kimble@mail.house.gov
(520) 881-3588 or (520) 904-5876