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Grant pursued for Solon concert series
(by Sue Reid - June 27, 2012)
Grant pursued for Solon concert series
By SUE REID
Solon City Council's finance committee approved the preparation of legislation last week to allow the Solon Center for the Arts to submit an intent to apply for a 2013 project support grant through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.
If it's approved for funding, this would be the fourth such grant for the arts center, Executive Director Karen Prasser told the committee.
She intends to apply for the maximum amount, $35,000, by the June 28 deadline, Ms. Prasser said, to be used for a project that includes a series of three events.
Last year, Solon was one of just five governmental bodies to receive grant funding through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. It received $32,433, second only to the Cleveland School District.
While it is not necessary to specify details of the project, Ms. Prasser said, she anticipates asking for support for a Solon Philharmonic Orchestra concert, a Voices of Solon concert and a fully produced opera.
"The purpose of this matching grant is for public benefit and enrichment," she said. "These are programs that have become important to the Solon community and are very well attended."
With funding in place for 2012, the Solon Center for the Arts Signature Series will kick off with Phil Dirt and the Dozers tomorrow (June 29), a rock 'n' roll band celebrating the music of the Beach Boys, with the Philharmonic Orchestra. The family concert celebrates the arts center's 10th anniversary.
"La Traviata," in partnership with the Kent State University Hugh A. Glauser School of Music opera workshop, will be offered in September, and the Solon Philharmonic Orchestra fifth-anniversary season premiere, featuring opera soprano Kelly Cae Hogan from the Metropolitan Opera, will take place in November as part of a mayor's gala.
Councilman William D. Mooney asked if there is any financial obligation required from the city for the grant.
Ms. Prasser said no. She said the grant, which is funded by the cigarette tax in Cuyahoga County, will only fund up to 50 percent of the cost of the project, and the arts center had to show in its application how matching funds would be provided. Grant money, along with a contribution from the Friends of the Solon Center for the Arts and other funding sources, assures that "none of this touches our operating budget," she said.
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