Springfield Regional Arts Council

"Funds help opera raise its voice"

Thursday, October 19, 2006

The technical grant money will be used to buy two computers and software.

By Linda Leicht
News-Leader staff
CFO Award Ceremony

Expect to hear more about opera this year, thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.

The $2,000 technical grant will allow the Springfield Regional Opera to buy two computers and software that will bring the local opera into the 21st century, said executive director Janice Fulbright.

"I'm just in hog heaven," Fulbright said after the grants were announced Tuesday morning. "Our biggest problem has been that we've been below the radar screen. We haven't had the capacity to send out computer mailings or update our lists. ... People can expect to start hearing more from the opera."

The opera's computer grant was the smallest of the 14 grants announced Tuesday, but it's not the only one the opera is getting.

Through a collaborative effort with the Springfield Regional Arts Council, the opera and several other arts agencies will get a space to build and store sets at the Creamery Arts Center, thanks to a $50,000 grant — the largest announced.

"The opera has just had nowhere to store sets, except people's warehouses all over town, and nowhere to build our sets, except in somebody's barn," said Fulbright, who joined the opera in October.

This is the second grant to the arts council in as many years toward construction at the Creamery. Last year, a $42,000 grant paid for a costume room which is under construction. Both grants have been a collaborative effort between several arts agencies.

"The Community Foundation of the Ozarks has recognized the importance of nurturing the quality of life that we have in Springfield and what educating the next generation means to maintaining that quality of life," said Kay Logsdon, executive director of the arts council, which is housed in the Creamery. "We say we're actually growing our arts audience of the future."

Fulbright wants that audience to appreciate opera, as well as dance, symphony, theater and more.

"That was the main thing that brought me to this job in Springfield ... the attitude of collaboration," said Fulbright. "The willingness for all the arts groups to work together."

The focus of the foundation's grants program has been collaboration, said director of foundation programs Randy Russell.

"We try every opportunity we have to get organizations to do that," he said. "The arts council is an example of this."

The more groups work together, the further money can go, he said. "It tends to extend the amount of what can happen with the grant when the agencies work together."

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks awarded $202,999 in grants Tuesday, part of the arts/culture and community betterment focus of each spring grant distribution. The grants represented about half of the requests submitted.

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks manages charitable funds for donors, nonprofit organizations, public agencies and communities.

The foundation administers more than 740 charitable funds totaling approximately $78.6 million. Last year, CFO made grants and distributions of $4.7 million.

Grants are distributed in three separate cycles: health and human services in October; arts/culture and community betterment in March; and education and social justice in June.

Last year, $140,647 was distributed in March. Additional funds and income have allowed the foundation to give away even more in grants this year, said Russell.

"Hopefully, next year we'll have another jump and more money going to nonprofits."

Agencies awarded CFO grants

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks announced $202,999 in grants Tuesday:

* Boys & Girls Club of Springfield — $25,000 to construct an arts and crafts center in the Henderson Unit.
* Commercial Street Market — $14,000 to build a permanent covered pavilion for the farmers market.
* Computer Recycling Center — $15,000 to purchase a shredder, and $1,700 to develop an educational Web site.
* Greene County Archive and Records Center — $4,500 to publish and print two volumes of "The Black Families of the Ozarks" genealogical and historical information.
* HLABeard Productions — $8,000 to fund marketing and materials for local film makers' participation in a "48-Hour Film Challenge" project.
* Jordan Valley Marketing Council — $16,000 to provide supplemental funding to produce a Summer Concert Series, the Outdoor Cinema Series and a new Winter Carnival.
* Salvation Army — $10,149 to build perimeter fencing and rock for drainage for their sports recreational field.
* Southwest Missouri Humane Society — $2,000 for computers and related equipment for development and tracking information.
* Spay-Neuter Assistance Program — $10,600 to fund 450 low cost pet operations to assist economically challenged pet owners and aid pet population control.
* Springfield Family YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club of Springfield — $11,000 to purchase computer equipment, software, marketing materials and program supplies for a student-run Internet radio station.
* Little Theatre — $30,000 to leverage an existing grant for installation of an elevator in the historic facility to meet ADH requirements.
* Springfield Regional Arts Council — $50,000 to fund a seven-agency, collaborative set design facility in the Creamery Arts Center to provide storage and construction space.
* Springfield Regional Opera — $2,000 for computer equipment to increase marketing and season development.
* Springfield Symphony — $3,050 to provide a performance outreach opportunity to persons who participate in Daybreak Adult Daycare.