The City of St. Louis Park has announced that seven organizations and artists will receive more than $22,000 in grant monies to create or produce public art projects in the city. The Arts & Culture Grant Program is a collaborative program between the City of St. Louis Park, the Friends of the Arts, and the St. Louis Park Community Foundation. The program funds art projects and cultural activities that build bridges between artists and communities, engage people in creative learning, and promote artistic production and cultural experiences in St. Louis Park.

A committee comprised of Friends of the Arts staff, city officials, members of the St. Louis Park Community Foundation Board and community members reviewed the applications and identified applicants whose proposals best met the program objectives. In addition to the live performances and public displays, the city hopes to videotape each selected project for airing on community television and posting on the city website, www.stlouispark.org when possible.

The following is a short summary of each project with their budgeted request:

Children First - $1,592 to educate people in the community about the need to oxygenize young people's "Sparks." Sparks is a program that offers a step-by-step approach to help teenagers and parents, discover, celebrate and act on their unique gifts. The grant will allow for multiple Happening performances, interactive exhibits at the Children First Ice Cream Social on May 16, 2010, and a Sparks page on the Children First website. During the Sparks Fair at the Ice Cream Social, Children First will have 20 interactive exhibits by local people, both youth and adults, demonstrating and discussing their Sparks.

Stacia Goodman- $5,000 to install a large, colorful mosaic mural for the main entrance atrium at The Rec Center comprised of traditional mosaic materials (ceramic tile, glass and grout) and reclaimed trash items contributed by St. Louis Park residents and businesses during the city's spring clean-up event. The mural would be three panels (each 3 feet wide by 5 feet tall) hung next to each other. The Rec Center staff is in support of the project and will be providing the labor and power lift required for hanging the mural and have agreed to a three-year art ownership and upkeep agreement with the artist.

Harmony Theater Company and School - $4,210 to assist in the creation and production of a series of short films that document the history of St. Louis Park through recording experiences of its citizens. The series will consist of three parts, each focusing on a specific time period: the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Every part will be based on first-hand interviews conducted with senior citizens who lived in St. Louis Park during the given time period, and will be made reflecting the development of cinematography in 1920-40s: silent movies, "talkies" (in black-and-white), and animation. The films will be created in the summer of 2010 with the participation of Harmony's acting students (primarily aged 8-13) and Harmony's staff, including its artistic director and film-making professional. Once completed, Harmony Theater will hold film-screenings at Harmony Theater, senior centers and nursing homes in St. Louis Park. The film will also be provided to the City and Historical Society to be shown at their discretion. Copies will also be donated to the St. Louis Park public libraries and schools.

Maggie's Farm Theater/SLP Senior Program - $2,500 to launch, produce and debut performances of a Reader's Theater Program designed to function as an intergenerational program that serves the community through expressive storytelling and will feature senior community citizens. The goal in reader's theater reaches beyond entertainment value to literacy encouragement and sharing the joy of reading. The goal for participants is to engage in an artistic expression of storytelling and creative interaction with peers. Rehearsals for the Reader's Theater Program will take place in the fall of 2010, with each story prepared to easily tour throughout the community.

Mixed Precipitation Theater Group - $4,000 to present seven performances of the Picnic Operetta at community garden sites in St. Louis Park. Mixed Precipitation is a theater group that provides an on-going experience in live performance forms presenting unique, entertaining, high quality events highlighting social engagement and providing opportunities for artists to work across disciplines exploring text, space and new dramatic forms. Mixed Precipitation will present a series of site specific performances in a unique form - picnic operetta - a hybrid opera performance. The performances are planned at gardens in St. Louis Park including Birchwood Community Garden, the Bronx Park Community Garden and St. Louis Park Community Garden. Four of the performances are weekday matinees for students at Peter Hobart Primary Center and Benilde St. Margaret's High School. Preview performances will also be held at the St. Louis Park Farmer's Market.

The Park Theater Company - $2,500 to produce and present six performances of "Axel and His Dog" by Don Stolz. This play is about the local children's television program, hosted by local celebrity and broadcaster, Clellan Card, from 1954 to 1966. It includes comedy as well as an inside look behind the scenes of local TV. The play is family-friendly and will have a wide appeal to persons of all ages. These performances will take place in October/November 2010.

The St. Louis Park High School Choir - $3,000 to present a fundraising gala production of "Fiddler on the Roof" in May 2010. These funds are to assist with the start-up costs of this initial gala production in the hopes of generating an ongoing source of revenue to help reduce or defray the costs of future tours in order to provide an opportunity for more, if not all, choir students to participate in the tours and Master Classes and Workshops.