The City That Works…For You~Newsletter November 2008

GRANTS OFFICE: THE COMMUNITY ARTS PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM: 2008-2009 The Community Arts Partnership Program, an initiative of Mayor Dannel P. Malloy to foster innovation in the arts in Stamford, is in its ninth year.  The goal is to encourage increased audience participation in and enjoyment of the arts for all City residents.  A total of $147,000 was available for the 2008/2009 fiscal year with grant allocations ranging from $2,450 to $14,700. Mayor Malloy and the Community Arts Partnership Program Review Committee are pleased to congratulate 18 organizations that will receive support during the 2008/2009 fiscal year. The awardees are: The Boys & Girls Club of Stamford will partner with the Stamford Symphony to offer after school enrichment activities that provide exposure to music, dance and other disciplines.  Programs will be developmentally appropriate for children in grades 1-5 and be designed to complement Connecticut Education standards in math, history and arts education. Connecticut Ballet, Inc. will produce two professional ballet performances and one student performance.  A variety of classical, contemporary, and family-oriented programming, open to the public, will be presented at the Stamford Center for the Arts. First United Methodist Church will host FIRST at FIRST at FOUR, a three-concert series and Young Artist Showcase featuring instrumentalists, vocalists and accompanists.  Each concert will feature a different type of music, including classical jazz, gospel, jazz and jazz fusion.  Concerts will feature two 45 minute performances with accompaniment, intermission and allow time after the concert for the audience and performers to mix. Loft Artists Association will host Open Studios, featuring over 25 members’ studios and 25 associate members’ studios in the LAA’s new location.  Attendees learn about the artistic process and engage in an open dialogue with the artists.  The work of Stamford high school students will also be featured.  Funds will also help support a special anniversary exhibition. Lumina String Quartet will perform three concerts at the Rich Forum and the Ferguson Library and organize a Chamber Music Institute for Young People held at the Stamford Center for the Arts.

Namaskaar Foundation, Inc. promotes, preserves, and raises awareness of performing arts from India and other countries among non-traditional audiences.  Funding will support 4 Indian Music Concerts, an International Music Festival, and an International Dance Festival. Poem Alley will receive funding to develop a website and host workshops for poets on self-publishing and digital recording.  Poem Alley uses reading, writing and the performance arts to foster a deeper appreciation of literature and provides a forum for dialogue between writers and other artists. Prometheus’ Fire will produce a dramatic concert reading and develop a new play by an emerging playwright.  Prometheus’ Fire seeks to nurture professional actors working locally and to produce plays without artificial limitations or preconceived notions as to acceptable size or diversity of cast. Raices Theatrical Group, an emerging organization targeting Latino youth, will receive support to produce La Casa de Bernarda Alba. Scofield Manor will present a series of cultural programs by local artists in performance, demonstration and/or lecture including modern dance, ballet, Indian and Haitian dance, Mexican, and Afro-Caribbean music. Stamford Art Association will present a four week exhibit, lecture and discussion program, highlighting artists who are no longer living, but who worked in Stamford. Stamford Kwanzaa Association will coordinate music, drumming, dance, craft-making, culinary arts, story telling, and dramatic arts programs to increase public knowledge, awareness and appreciation of the role art plays in the development of culture and society. Stamford Theatre Works, Inc. receives funding to support the 2008-2009 full production season of five plays, which are professionally, originally, and fully produced (totaling 105 public performances). Stamford Young Artists Philharmonic will present three concerts at the Stamford Center for the Arts to enrich the lives of young people through classical instrumental music. The Ballet School of Stamford will facilitate an outreach program Dance for All designed to reach children who otherwise would not be able to participate in dance classes. The Stamford Chorale will present two formal concerts.  The group rehearses and recruits year round with the goal of creating an intergenerational organization that will mirror the community in which we live united by a passion and love of music and performance. Treetops Chamber Music Society will demonstrate the richness and diversity of chamber music through high profile chamber music concerts at the Treetops Studio in Stamford. The Westfair Chamber Singers, Inc. will provide two or more concerts in Stamford at low or no cost.  Planned locations include The Ferguson Library. Non-profit arts organizations interested in obtaining information about the 2009/2010 Community Arts Partnership Program application and deadlines should contact the City of Stamford’s Grants Office at: 977-4053 or by e-mail: elarson@ci.stamford.ct.us. Source: City of Stamford

New Kwanzaa Video: The Black Candle

This winter, The Black Candle, a marvelous movie about Kwanzaa, narrated by Dr. Maya Angelou, directed by M.K. Asante, Jr., and produced by Ben Haaz will be unveiled in front of enthusiastic audiences around the world. This powerful film is supported by the moving insights of engaging voices like poet icon Amiri Baracka and hip hop’s own Chuck D; seasoned by the musical scores of jazz musicians like Derrick Hodge and carried upwards by the vocal wonders of  jazz vocalist Nnena Freelon.

Check your public libraries to see if they have this video in their collections!

Source: iKwanzaa.com

9th Annual City-Wide Kwanzaa Kick-Off Celebration Dec. 26th

When: Wednesday, December 26, 2008
6:30-9:00PM

Where: The Rich Forum (Stamford Center for the Arts)
307 Atlantic Street, Stamford, CT

What: An evening of information and celebration

FREE and open to the public. Everyone is asked to bring a non-perishable item for the Food Bank.

For more information contact Mrs. Josephine Fulcher-Anderson 203-351-8281

12th Annual Kwanzaa Awareness Festival

Learn all about Kwanzaa – what it means and how to celebrate the holiday. Kwanzaa crafts, African drumming workshop and candle lighting ceremony.

Special Guest: Jerry Craft, sydnicated cartoonist and author.

For all ages. Come check it out at 11:00AM, on Saturday, December 6, 2008 at the Ferguson Library-Main Branch, Stamford, CT <www.fergusonlibrary.org>