Berks Arts is awarding $78,000 in regional grant funds to 39 recipients, thanks to an annual grant received from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency.
The grants, provided by state tax dollars, fund a variety of dance, theatre, music, and visual arts projects within Berks, Lancaster, and Schuylkill counties.
Berks Arts Council is one of 14 Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA) organizations that annually evaluate grant requests for arts projects, individual artists, and ongoing arts programs within the three-county region. The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts oversees the PPA initiative.
The following artists and arts organizations have been awarded grants for the 2020-2021 funding year:
Berks County grant recipients: Art Plus Gallery, Barrio Alegria, Berks Ballet Theatre, Berks Community Television, Berks County Chamber Foundation: Reading FilmFEST, Berks Opera Workshop, Berks Sinfonietta, Berks Youth Chorus, Building A Better Boyertown: Arts and Activities Alliance: Studio B, Clay on Main, Friends of Chamber Music Reading, Mifflin Community Library, New Arts Program, Inc, Olivet Boys & Girls Club, Opus One Berks Chamber Choir, Our Town Foundation, Reading Choral Society, Reading Civic Theatre, Reading Pops Orchestra, Reading Recreation Commission, Reading Theater Project, The Ringgold Band, Inc, Vox Philia Chamber Choir, Inc, and WCR Center for the Arts.
The mission of Berks Arts is to inspire, engage and unite our community through arts collaboration, education and presentation. Berks Arts is a catalyst which addresses social and economic barriers through inclusive and integrative programs.
Berks Arts works with artists, community organizations and businesses to develop partnerships and collaborative programs to benefit the community at large. Project Stream and Program Stream grantees feature various forms of the performing and visual arts.
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) is a state agency under the Governor’s Office that works to foster the excellence, diversity, and vitality of the arts in Pennsylvania and to broaden the availability and appreciation of those arts throughout the state. The PCA is governed by a council of 19 members – 15 private citizens appointed by the Governor and four members of the General Assembly.
