GRANT PROJECTS FOR
THE 2023-2024 SEASON
Three major grants have been awarded for activities that will take place during the 2023-24 arts season. Organizations receiving these grants include the Muse Machine, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance.
The Muse Machine will be able to expand its arts-integrated residency program during the 2023-24 academic year thanks to a Rosenthal Foundation grant in the amount of $19,400. The expansion will include 4 Dayton Public Schools with a focus on PreK through Grade 2. The schools that have asked to be included are Belle Haven Elementary, Charity Adams Early Girls Academy, the International School at Residence Park, and Ruskin Elementary. Teacher-Artist Beth Wright will work with the classroom teachers to provide in-classroom experiences that address the residency’s educational goals. These four residencies will culminate in a performance by the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.
An award of $45,000 will enable the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company to acquire, restage and perform Paul Taylor’s Esplanade, one of the most classical beloved master works in the modern contemporary dance cannon. The work premiered in New York in 1975. DCDC will become the first African American dance company to receive this classic work into its repertoire. The work will be presented at the Victoria Theatre during the weekend of February 17-18, 2024.
Photo credit: Tom Patterson
The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance’s $100,000 grant allows the Q the Music program to continue into its second school year in northwest Dayton. The program, launched in January 2023, is centered at Ruskin Elementary School. The goal of this daily, tuition-free, after school orchestra program is to provide students a deeply immersive experience learning a musical instrument and opening a clear path to a college education.
A $25,000 grant to the Human Race Theatre Company will help underwrite their re-emerging engagement program entitled Engage Onstage. The overall program has three primary components: engagement with Daybreak, 1Fifteen, and Military Vet Programs providing opportunities for program participants to attend performances, learn about theatre, build additional skills of empathy and listening, and provide an opportunity to tell their stories; a renewed commitment to diversity and inclusion in programming, audience development, staff and board recruitment, and to participation of families; and, a commitment to people with special needs. Three productions of the 2022-23 Human Race season will provide the primary focus for Engage Onstage. The 2022-23 season marks the first season under the direction of the new Artistic Director, Emily N. Well
