PNC bank held a press conference Tuesday morning to announce its new arts funding initiative, PNC Arts Alive, which will provide $1.5 million in grants over the next three years to Central Ohio visual and performing arts organizations.
PNC Arts Alive will provide programming grants of $25,000 and higher to qualifying Central Ohio arts organizations.
Leaders from throughout the Central Ohio arts community met Tuesday morning at the newly renovated Lincoln Theatre to hear the announcement.
“We think the arts are a necessary catalyst for growth, a tool for educating our children and a building block for long-term community development,” said Michael Gonsiorowski, PNC regional president.
The foundation will award grants to groups that focus on increasing the accessibility of under-served and diverse audiences, creating innovative programming that sparks interest in the arts and groups that use technology to deliver art in new ways, Gonsiorowski said.
“This initiative will more than double the current dollars we’ve made available to arts groups,” Gonsiorowski said.
The PNC Arts Alive foundation comes at a critical time for the Central Ohio arts community, said Priscilla Tyson, Columbus City Council member. “We know that our economy is slowly getting better, but the arts community has taken some significant hits.”
“The funding has decreased, but the arts community is strong,” Tyson said.
The foundation hopes that its grant money will also help to boost local communities and local economy.
“The arts community can help to bring visitors to our city,” Tyson said. “A strong arts community means a strong quality of life, and we all want to have that.”
“This is about job growth, job development and that’s what the arts are,” Tyson said. “We understand that a strong arts community means long-term economic stability.”
Tyson pointed to the newly renovated Lincoln Theatre as a prime example of how the arts can help to improve a community.
The Lincoln Theatre, which underwent a $13.5 million renovation in 2009, is now surrounded by new small businesses and condos, Tyson said. “This facility is turning this community around.”
“This new investment builds upon the success of PNC Grow Up Great, our early childhood education funding and advances our mission of community development,” according to the foundation’s Web site.
“I hope this new investment will inspire other corporations to follow suit,” Gonsiorowski said.
The foundation will award grants to organizations in the following Central Ohio counties: Coshocton, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Guernsey, Hocking, Knox, Licking, Logan, Marion, Muskingum, Perry, Pickaway and Union.
The deadline for the first wave of grant applications is May 7. The grant recipients will be announced in September.
