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MARIETTA - Four Washington County arts and community organizations have been awarded more than $21,000 in grants from the Ohio Arts Council.
Artsbridge Inc., the Betsey Mills Corp., the Civil War Round Table of the Mid-Ohio Valley and the Hippodrome Colony Historical Theatre Association, which operates Peoples Bank Theatre, received a combined $21,377.
Artsbridge received the largest local award, an $11,767 Sustainability grant. The organization provides arts programs throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley, including programming for students in Washington County.
Executive Director Lyndsay Dennis said the grant provides operational funding that helps Artsbridge continue serving communities on both sides of the Ohio River.
"We serve Ohio's Washington County students and community members, so that helps us stay across the bridge and do what we do all over the Mid-Ohio Valley," Dennis said.
Dennis said some of the organization's programs may be unfamiliar to residents without children enrolled in local schools. Artsbridge's school tours program brings professional artists into schools for assemblies and other programs.
The organization arranges five tours each year for different grade levels. Programs have included children's theater, ventriloquists, magicians and presentations that show students how to incorporate art into everyday life.
The organization also maintains a catalog of local artists that is distributed to schools. Schools can select artists from the catalog to lead activities for individual classrooms or entire grade levels.
Dennis said Artsbridge is scheduling its school tours for the upcoming academic year.
The Ohio Arts Council's Sustainability program provides flexible operating support for ongoing arts and cultural activities. The council awarded 545 Sustainability grants statewide totaling about $17.95 million.
Three Marietta organizations received funding through the council's ArtSTART program.
The Betsey Mills Corp. received $3,322 to purchase supplies for its child care art program. Suzanne Schultz, executive director of the Betsey Mills, said it was the organization's first time applying for the grant.
Child Care Director Darcy DeLancey said the funding will allow the program to purchase art supplies that otherwise may have required additional fundraising.
"We are definitely really excited about getting the grant," DeLancey said. "Our goal is to make it more meaningful for the kids by giving them the freedom to explore and create."
DeLancey said the art supplies will be used to support hands-on activities that encourage curiosity and imagination among children in the program.
"Especially for how much this is, I am really excited," she said. "This will allow us to invite curiosity and imagination. We're all about hands-on activity."
The Hippodrome Colony Historical Theatre Association received a $3,971 ArtSTART grant, while the Civil War Round Table of the Mid-Ohio Valley received $2,317 through the same program.
ArtSTART provides funding for short-term projects undertaken by new or emerging organizations, first-time Ohio Arts Council applicants and organizations working in communities or areas that other arts providers may not serve.
Other Ohio Arts Council funding categories support arts education partnerships, artist residencies in schools, experimental projects, touring Ohio performers and apprenticeships in traditional art forms.