Nevada Arts Council Awards SNC:AGO Record-Setting Grant

On June 27, the board of the Nevada Arts Council (NAC) unanimously approved funding for fifty-five Project Grants for Organizations, including a $4,000 grant to the SNC:AGO’s Paul S. Hesselink Recital Series (fiscal year 2020). The grant is the largest ever awarded to the chapter by the NAC.

In total, the NAC board approved more than $1.048 million of grants to enrich the cultural lives of Nevadans by supporting, strengthening and preserving excellence in the arts. Just over $200,000 was awarded in Project Grants for Organizations. In this category, there were 69 applicants, of which 60 were approved for review and 55 were awarded funding.

A NAC panel reviewed, discussed and scored the approved applications during a public meeting on May 22 & 23. Their scoring determined which applications were funded and at what amount. Panelists included:

Andrew Akufo, Executive Director, Healdsburg Center for the Arts – Healdsburg, CA
Kayla Boettcher, Executive Director, Sitka Summer Music Festival – Sitka, AK
Thomas Michel, Director of Development, Nevada Ballet Theatre – Las Vegas, NV
Lindsay Wilson, Professor, Truckee Meadows Community College – Reno, NV

Many of the panelists’ comments and suggestions about our series and grant application will be adopted by the chapter and incorporated into future submissions for funding.

For the past 12 years the SNC:AGO has received annual grants from the Nevada Arts Council,  a state agency, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Since 2007, our average award was $2,350 annually, totaling $28,204 in funding.

The SNC:AGO utilizes this funding to help pay our recitalist’s artist and travel fees. This year’s grant was written by chapter member Kevin Coney.