BENTON TOWNSHIP — The State of Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs has awarded a grant of $12,000 to The Mendel Center at Lake Michigan College.

The Mendel Center is using the grant to support its presentation of the nationally touring production of “Pippin” on March 15, 2017.

The Mendel Center’s grant was awarded through a peer review process, and was one of 559 applications to compete for MCACA fiscal year 2017 funding. Organizations receiving a MCACA grant are required to match those funds with other public and private dollars.

“Funding from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs is critical to the vitality of the arts in southwest Michigan and throughout the state,” said Mike Nadolski, executive director of The Mendel Center at Lake Michigan College. “We thank our state representatives, our state senators and Gov. Snyder for supporting the work MCACA does, which in turn supports the work we do to help the southwest Michigan community connect through the arts.”

The Mendel Center has a long-standing commitment to making theater and Broadway productions accessible to southwest Michigan through its annual main stage performance series. “Pippin” has been selected to be part of The Mendel Center Main stage 2016-2017 season for its storyline and award-winning history.

Channel 16 WNDU TV is sponsoring “Pippin,” and The Mendel Center receives significant volunteer support from the community through its team of more than 100 Mendel Center volunteers.

The MCACA peer review process allows for each grant application to be competitively considered by a panel of in-state and out-of-state arts and cultural professionals. This ensures the taxpayers, who support this project through legislative appropriations, and all other visitors and residents in Michigan will have access to the arts and cultural experiences

A complete list of grant awards around the state is available by contacting MCACA at (517) 241-4011, or by visiting the MCACA website at http://www.michiganbusiness.org/community/council-arts-cultural-affairs.

The Mendel Center raised the curtain on its first main stage season performance in the fall of 1992. Since that time, it has presented 573 main stage season performances, including this season’s lineup, to more than half a million performance attendees. That is in addition to the hundreds and hundreds of other performing arts, national and international speakers, ceremonies and community events hosted by other groups and organizations on the main stage.

The 1,573-seat Mendel Center main stage theater offers state-of-the-art acoustics and comfortable seating in elegant surroundings, representatives say. Other amenities include free parking, handicap accessibility, and an array of special services including valet parking, catering and bar service for private pre- and post-show events, booster seats for children, hearing-assist devices, non-spill cups for beverages inside the theater and recently added premium seats in the stage side section.

The Mendel Center is a 30-minute drive from Niles and within a 40-minute drive from the Kalamazoo and South Bend areas.  It is located on the Lake Michigan College campus at 2755 E. Napier Avenue, Benton Harbor, Michigan.