SCRANTON — The 2017 arts and culture organization and individual recipients of grant support for their various community projects, events and activities were recently revealed by the Lackawanna County Commissioners, Patrick M. O’Malley, Jerry Notarianni and Laureen A. Cummings.
Financial assistance was awarded in two forms: 32 program stream grants, totalling $214,200, and 22 community project grants, totalling $50,000. The grants are funded by the Arts, Education and Culture tax, which is assessed annually at a rate of approximately 1.0 mill.
The program stream grants are larger awards to arts and cultural non-profits who receive a yearly allocation from the Lackawanna County Arts and Culture Department. Their operations are reviewed every other year to gauge need, their projects and general growth. Community project grants are one-time disbursements for a specific activity administered by an organization or individual. Applicants may reapply every October for this form of funding.
The applications for both are reviewed and scored by a panel to help determine if the programs, projects or activities should be funded. Both grant programs are modeled after the process that The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts utilizes.
The County’s Arts and Culture Department and the Pocono Arts Council also recognized the Pennsylvania Arts Council’s “Partners in the Arts” Project Stream Award recipients from the region at a Feb. 8 awards ceremony.
Local anchor institutions The Everhart Museum and The Scranton Cultural Center received their annual education/arts and culture allocation of $240,000 each. The Lackawanna County Library System received $60,000 to operate the County Law Library, with $180,000 being held for emergency capital expenses/improvements.
Program stream grant recipients
• Abington Business and Professional Association (Clarks Summit Festival of Ice): $4,000
• Actor’s Circle: $6,000
• Anthracite Heritage Museum and Iron Furnaces: $7,000
• Arcadia Chorale: $3,000
• Artists for Art Gallery: $6,000
• Ballet Theatre of Scranton: $7,000
• Boys and Girls Clubs of NEPA: $5,000
• Broadway Theatre League: $15,000
• Catholic Choral Society: $3,000
• Choral Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania: $3,500
• City of Carbondale – Pioneer Heritage Festival: $4,000
• Classical Guitar Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania: $1,200
• Electric City Television: $30,000
• First Friday Scranton – $6,000
• La Festa Italiana: $7,000
• Lackawanna All County High School Band: $1,000
• Lackawanna Historical Society: $20,000
• Lackawanna River Corridor Association River Fest: $3,000
• Lackawanna Heritage Valley – Heritage Explorerand Santa Train: $1,000
• Lyric Consort: $3,000
• Mostly Opera: $1,500
• N.E.I.U. #19 – Poetry Out Loud Program: $1,000
• North Pocono Cultural Society: $3,500
• Scranton Civic Ballet: $7,000
• Scranton Jazz Festival: $10,000
• Scranton Music Association: $3,000
• Scranton Public Theatre: $3,500
• Scranton Shakespeare Festival: $6,000
• St. Patrick’s Day Parade Association: $6,000
• St. Ubaldo Festival -: $6,000
• The Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic: $16,000
• United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA Illumination Arts After School Program and Arts projects at Project Hope: $15,000
Community project grant recipients
• Scranton Fringe Festival: $2,900
• Ghostlight Productions: $2,800
• Doug Smith: $2,800
• Lisa Cassella: $2,700
• Marylou Chibirka: $2,700
• Julie Esty: $2,600
• Rosemary Hay: $2,600
• Michaela Moore and My Colley: $2,600
• First Presbyterian Church: $1,900
• Waverly Community House: $2,500
• Ihor Shablovsky: $2,350
• Covenant Public Concerts: $2,350
• Friends of the ARC Auxiliary: $2,300
• Shannon Keith: $2,200
• St. Joseph’s Center: $2,100
• Margo Azzarelli : $1,100
• Marywood University: $2,000
• Leela Baikadi: $2,000
• Matthew Rupcich: $1,800
• Sujata Nair-Mulloth: $1,900
• West Scranton Hyde Park Neighborhood Watch, Inc.: $1,900
• Mark Dennebaum – $1,900
