By Staff
The popular Beckwith Park Summer Concert Series of the Dowagiac Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has been awarded a $4,000 fine arts mini-grant from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo through the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA).
The announcement was made this week by Anne Mehring, director of arts administration for the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo.
Mehring said 18 out of the 19 grant applications received funding during the third cycle, which includes projects that are held during late-spring and summer. Grants totaled $50,939, with $4,000 being the maximum amount awarded to any one project. The Beckwith Park Summer Concert Series was one of only three concert series that received funding in Cass, Berrien and Van Buren counties.
Phillipson said the 11-week Beckwith Park Summer Concert Series has grown substantially in recent years from a mere $385-program in 1996 to the $4,000 music series it is today.
Mehring said the panel of judges that reviewed each of the grant applications noted "the wide appeal the Beckwith Park Summer Concert Series represents, the nice downtown venue it is held within, the spin-off affect the series has on downtown businesses, the amount of community support the series attracts and the quality of performers it features."
As such, future funding for similar events will become more limited. Because of this, Mehring encouraged host organizations and local patrons of the arts to contact their legislators in Lansing and Washington to let them know how the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs supports local projects such as the Beckwith Park Summer Concert Series and how important this funding is to their communities.