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Hancher Auditorium wins $800,000
Posted November 20, 2003
IOWA CITY -- The University of Iowa Hancher Auditorium, in partnership with public libraries and community organizations in the Iowa towns of Marshalltown, Perry, Spencer and Iowa City/Coralville, has been awarded a four-year, $800,000 "Leadership and Excellence in Arts Participation" (LEAP) grant from the Wallace Foundation (formerly known as the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds). The funding, which is the larget programming grant in the auditorium's history, will enhance arts participation by "Generation-X" families through performances and artist residencies augmented by innovative uses of technology. The new Wallace Foundation grant -- the major financial component of a $2 million UI project -- builds on Hancher's experience partnering with Pella, Decorah and Burlington in the recently completed Iowa Network Project, also made possible by Wallace funding. That $300,000 grant was the largest previous grant received by the auditorium. Hancher is one of 21 American arts organizations in 15 states that share $13 million in the current round of LEAP funding. Among other prominent organizations receiving LEAP funding are the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, Cal Performances in Berkeley, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and Nevada's Western Folklife Center. (The full text of the Wallace Foundation news release is available on its web site.) The LEAP grant will be combined with resources committed by several other UI programs and offices -- Academic Technologies, University Relations, the Division of Student Services, the Graduate College and the office of the Vice President for Research. During the course of the project, the University of Iowa Foundation will also establish an endowment fund, with the goal of establishing a $200,000 endowment that will enable Hancher to continue its audience-development efforts with the technology and expertise developed through the project. The project will sponsor two artist-residencies each season. Three weeks prior to each residency, a variety of online activities related to the art form and the particular artist/company will be available on the project's website. Included will be a chatroom that will enable residents of the four communities to communicate directly with the artists, as well as background materials, streaming video and calendars of activities. Other technologies, including the production of CDs and DVDs, will be used to broaden the impact of the project. The Iowa Communications Network (ICN), the state's real-time interactive fiber-optics network, will also be a major tool in the project. Hancher has been an ICN originating site since 1996, and has used the network to stage interactive workshops that connect Hancher touring artists with school classrooms throughout the state. Public libraries are natural partners for the LEAP project, because they are both ICN sites and sources of high-speed internet access. These technologies not only will be a vital component in the residencies, but will also be used for project planning and evaluation. The other participating community organizations will be the Iowa Children's Museum in Iowa City/Coralville, the community theater, Arts on Grand and the YMCA in Spencer; the historic preservation organization Hometown Perry; and the Community Y in Marshalltown. The artists will launch each residency with an interactive ICN event, originating in Hancher before a live audience and beamed to each library. In the third year, the ICN event will also be a webcast, allowing people throughout the state and beyond an opportunity to participate. The artists will then spend two days in each community in a variety of residency activities leading to a performance on the third day. Each residency period will culminate in Iowa City with a performance as part of Hancher's regular season. "Hancher has been recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in commissioning, innovative programming and network-building," says Judith Hurtig, Hancher's artistic director. "This project will expand our leadership role through the use of technology in arts education and audience building. We and our partners expect to learn a great deal during the next four years, and we expect to solidify relationships that will enhance the cultural lives of these communities far beyond the duration of this grant." Hancher's executive director, Charles Swanson, who grew up in northwest Iowa, adds, "One of the aspects of the project that we find most exciting is that it enables us to expand our role as a resource to the people of Iowa far beyond driving distance to Iowa City. By utilizing contemporary technology -- building on our experience with ICN workshops that have involved thousands of students in distant classrooms -- we can contribute to the cultural life of Iowa communities that in some cases are too remote from campus to have regular access to our live events. When we create partnerships with these communities, we become much more than just a performance hall. We become more like an arts extension service." The Wallace Foundation, headquartered in New York, supports and shares effective ideas, practices and solutions that help institutions expand learning and enrichment and opportunities for all people. The foundation's current objectives are to strengthen education leadership to improve student achievement, improve after-school learning opportunities, and expand participation in arts and culture. Over the past decade, the Wallace Foundation has helped arts and cultural organizations to develop innovative and effective participation-building practices, fostered partnerships with states and other public and private funders, and developed knowledge and tools that help arts organizations build participation. Further information can be found at www.wallacefoundation.org or www.arts4allpeople.org. Contact Information
Pat Hanick Additional information about ways to support Hancher Auditorium also is available on this site. |