The Board of Trustees of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) has approved 88 grants, totaling $1,029,164 for the 2012 Project Support cycle. The awards include traditional PS I grants and the new Project Support II, a small grant program that provides awards of up to $5000. Grants range in value from $625 to $49,333.  Organizations located in Cleveland Heights collectively received grants totaling $115,693.

CAC’s Board of Trustees met Monday, November 14th at 4pm to approve the awards. 

Martin Cosentino, Managing Director of Ensemble Theater of Cleveland said of receiving a $19,535 grant, “This is the third grant we are receiving from CAC and we are ecstatic about it. This will help fund two plays, running in rotating repetition during Black History Month:  Lower 9^th by Beau Willimon, which deals with Katrina and its aftermath, and A Song for Coretta by Pearl Cleage, which honors the life of Coretta Scott King.  We expect these plays to draw in a diverse population during Black History Month. We are working with Cleveland Heights-University Heights Schools and will be providing a free performance for students and will be able to provide reduced tickets for other performances.” The theater is housed in the Coventry School building.

Project Support 2012 garnered the largest number of Intent to Apply and full applications in CAC’s history. A total of 131 organizations submitted Intent to Apply materials, of which 118 of were eligible. This is up over 45% from 2011, the year with the previous record number of submissions. The PS12 cohort of 88 cultural partners shows an increase of 56% from the 56 cultural partners in the PS11.  

Increased outreach and a new, small grants program (Project Support II) led to a jump in participation and 36% of all organizations were first‐time applicants to CAC.  Board of Trustees President, Sari Feldman said “We are extremely pleased with the results of the new PS II program. CAC has been able to expand its reach in to the community and provide more opportunities for arts and cultural organizations. Knowing that almost half of the applications came from the PS II pool lets us know that this program is a valuable addition to the process.”

Please visit CAC’s website at www.cacgrants.org for more information about our Project Support program and for a full list of upcoming meetings and events.

Since 2007, CAC has invested nearly $65 million dollars in 150 local arts and cultural organizations. In 2009, CAC grantees generated nearly $280 million in local economic activity and supported 5,000 local jobs.