“Our future is bright.”
This simple line opened Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s declaration of Wednesday as PNC Arts Alive Day, and it was certainly true for 13 area arts foundations.
The revealing of award recipients came six months after the announcement of the PNC Arts Alive program, a three-year initiative that will award a total of $1.5 million in grants to arts organizations in the Columbus area.
The program split $500,000 among the 2010 winners, with each group receiving at least $25,000.
Mike Gonsiorowski, PNC regional president, introduced the event after a performance by the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus. He said the initiative began with calls for “challenging and innovative” ideas, and “boy, did the arts sector respond.”
“We reaffirmed what we already knew,” Gonsiorowski said to the crowd gathered in the Franklin Park Conservatory’s main lobby. “Columbus is an arts powerhouse.”
The organizations included theater groups, museums, a symphony and a ballet. The highest earner was the Carpe Diem String Quartet, which received $47,000. The group will use the money to develop programs for introducing 3 to 5 year olds in local schools to chamber music.
City councilwoman and development chair Priscilla Tyson was also on hand to pass along Coleman’s message and describe how arts are fundamental to the expansion of the Columbus economy.
“The future depends on what we do in the present,” Tyson said, quoting Mahatma Gandhi. “Never has this been more significant than today.”
Tyson also commended PNC for its role in supporting the arts and she encouraged other businesses to follow suit.
“PNC, you are an amazing example to our corporate partners,” she said. “The only question is, who’s next?”
After the half-hour presentation, the presenters and winners gathered outside the Palm House to revel in their winnings.
The representatives from each group described the effect the grants would have on their programs.
Robert Lucas, the producing director of Mad River Theater Works, explained how it would benefit his organization’s Living Newspaper, a project in which the group travels U.S. Route 68 and gathers stories of the people and place of rural Ohio before recreating them as stage plays.
“The PNC money will allow us to broaden our scope in terms of collection and returning to the community for production,” he said. “It could help facilitate discussion with the community, as well.”
Beyond simply expanding existing projects, some said that without the help from PNC, the projects might not have gotten off the ground.
“It has a significant impact,” said Neal Hauschild, president of the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus, describing his group’s upcoming partnership with the Columbus Children’s Choir and the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. “Without their assistance and help, more likely than not, we would not be able to do that collaboration.”
