$11,000 IN GRANTS AWARDED TO EIGHTEEN RECIPIENTS FOR 2012 !!
$400 to Friends of New Marlborough Town Library: Presentation of a free educational program by Wingmasters, an organization that studies birds of prey; the program explains predation, the birds’ place at the top of the food chain, their adaptations, and their uncertain future in a rapidly changing environment.
$400 to Shakespeare & Company: The 24th Fall Festival of Shakespeare, a 9-week after-school arts-in-education residency at Mt. Everett and 9 other schools. In-depth exploration and complete production of a Shakespeare play at the school, and at the Fall Festival at Shakespeare & Company’s Founders Theater.
$250 to Town of New Marlborough Board of Selectmen: 10 tickets for each event at the Meeting House presented by the New Marlborough Village Association, provided free of charge to town employees and their families.
$100 to Berkshire Playwrights Lab: A laboratory for the development of new plays including an editorial tutorial with the artistic directors and rehearsal process, culminating in a staged-reading performance before an enthusiastic and supportive audience.
$1,000 to Project Bee: Wide-ranging program to promote and preserve honeybee arts and culture; target audiences include students in local schools, beekeepers, gardeners, and the broader community, through school curriculum, specialized workshops, an online forum, and community presentations.
$150 to IS183 Art School: Learning Through Arts is a 1½hour/week after-school arts enrichment program; students are guided through art-making projects that include elements of research, academic enrichment, and hands-on art experience.
$200 to Latin American Music: Students at Mount Everett Junior and Senior High School will learn the deep roots of folk, pop, and traditional music of Latin America, the Andean regions, and the Caribbean, as performed by MarKa, a Peruvian and Andean folk music quintet.
$250 to Berkshire Festival of Women Writers: A broad array of readings, lectures, and writing workshops are taking place throughout Berkshire County this month. One New Marlborough resident is presenting a short story workshop at the Bushnell Sage Library in Sheffield on March 6. Another resident is doing a journaling workshop at our library on March 17.
$100 to Winter Solstice Workshop: Students will learn about winter and the winter solstice, as well as horticultural aspects of the season. They will collect and learn about local plant material, which they will then use to construct a wreath or an arrangement.
$250 to the Berkshire Bach Society to present a workshop, "Bach – How did he do that?": The workshop will explore Bach’s composition processes and outcomes, with examples provided by members of the Berkshire Bach Ensemble. This will be followed by a concert of the two pieces discussed in the workshop.
$325 to the Third Grade at Undermountain Elementary for a Plimoth Plantation Field Trip: The class will visit Plimoth Plantation, an ongoing feature of the humanities curriculum.
$250 to Berkshire Children’s Chorus: The scholarship fund makes possible the participation of students who might otherwise not be able to join this high-quality program.
$325 to Bazaar Productions: Three separate activities will be part of The Berkshire Fringe in Great Barrington this summer: 30 Live – Free Concert Series ($100); Free Community Workshops by emerging performers, writers, musicians, and choreographers ($100); and New Play Development that will take place throughout the summer ($125).
$1,500 to the New Marlborough Village Association for "Slice ‘em & Dice ‘em": The second annual short story contest with the “Murder by Food” theme will be held as part of the Music & More series. Berkshire County writers submit a short story which will be judged by three professionals; six winning stories will be read in a public performance at the Meeting House in New Marlborough.
$2,000 for the Music & More program. This grant will provide partial support for three of the programs presented in the 21st season of this series. Dancers from Berkshire Pulse, accompanied by a trio of piano, clarinet, and violin, will present original choreography specific to the Meeting House space. Members of Aston Magna will present music from the Court of Frederick II of Prussia, a collection of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach based on a theme presented to him by Frederick the Great. Finally, an all-Brahms concert by violinist Daniel Stepner and pianist Robert Levin will be presented.
$580 to the Flying Cloud Institute: This grant will partially support tuition for two New Marlborough children who otherwise could not participate in Flying Cloud’s SMArt (Science Meets Art) Summer Program.
$2,820 to Flying Cloud Institute: This grant helps to support five different activities for students at New Marlborough Central and Undermountain Elementary: six half-day workshops at both schools involving a variety of specialists in the SMArt (Science Meets Art) program; three six-week after-school free programs at NMC in conjunction with the PTA; field trips to Flying Cloud for each class at NMC for field study and art studio experience; exhibition and celebration of student work, presented at the Meeting House stage and gallery in June; and participation of students in grades 4-8 at the Youth Environmental Summit in May, sponsored by the Berkshire Environmental Education Network.
$100 to the Sheffield Whinnies 4-H Club: State 4-H membership fees of $50 are difficult for many families. This grant will allow participation by two New Marlborough students in the club.
Eighteen grants awarded for 2012 totalling: $11,000
State Contribution: $3,870
Citizen Contributions: $7,130
Town Contribution: $1,000 covers cost of annual fund-raising effort