By Rhonda Van Pelt
The Manitou Arts, Culture, and Heritage program receives funds from a three-tenths of 1 percent increase in the city’s use and sales tax rates. Manitou Springs voters approved the measure, which earmarks 66 percent of the funds for facility improvements and operations at the Carnegie Library building, Manitou Art Center, Manitou Springs Heritage Center, Miramont Castle and Hiawatha Gardens.
Those are the Tier 1 properties. In this funding cycle, the library and Hiawatha Gardens — city projects — received $41,278 each, although the latter’s funds are on hold while the property’s fate is being decided. The three nonprofits receive $41,278 each.
Tier 2 funding goes to smaller nonprofits that go through an application process with the MACH board.
The board received 30 applications, requesting $111,000 in funding, but $77,500 was available. The board recommended $55,000 in grants to 16 organizations/individuals and City Council approved those recommendations at its March 16 meeting.
The remaining $22,500 is expected to be granted during the program’s mid-year cycle.
Three of the successful applicants replied to the Bulletin’s request for information about what they’ll do with the funds.
The first is Brenda Biondo, a renowned Manitou photographer who often features the natural landscape and conservation issues in her work.
Her project is called “Bee Kind” and she received $1,425 for it. She created a composite image depicting a native bee and elements of Colorado’s natural environment.
It will be printed on an 87-by-58-inch sheet of vinyl laminate that will be applied, using heat, to an exterior wall of a downtown Manitou building. The exact location has not been determined.
“The application process gives viewers the sense that the mural is painted on the wall. Installation of the mural is planned for National Pollinator Week, June 21-27,” Biondo said.
A lower corner of the mural will include a small QR code that will link to a website, with information about what we can all do to help protect bees, butterflies and other pollinators. The website is scheduled to be completed in June.
Posters of the mural image will be available for purchase, with $10 of the $18 purchase price going to the People and Pollinators Action Network, a Colorado nonprofit.
“This mural is the first in a new series of public art focused on endangered species and the environment,” Biondo said.
Creative Consortium, which has worked on several of these types of murals for Colorado Springs’ Art on the Streets program, will print and install the mural.
Two-thirds of the funding will be used to pay Creative Consortium, and one-third will go to Biondo for creating the work and overseeing printing and installment.
Manitou Springs Arts Academy received $2,800 for its ART Sacks program.
The MSAA began in 1992, the brainchild of Gary Miller, then the School District 14 superintendent, and a dedicated group of teachers, parents and business leaders.
“We have worked consistently in partnership with MSSD14 to advocate for and enrich young people’s experiences in the arts,” board member Wendy Fay said.
“The mission of the MSAA is to provide intensive education and training in the arts in a joyous and highly supportive environment.”
That’s especially important at this time, when children have been learning at home and have had less access to learning through the arts.
MSAA ART Sacks will give children equal access to art materials that will support the curriculum and provide guidance to parents and guardians.
The materials may be used across the disciplines of visual art, music, theater and movement, and can be refilled.
The board of directors also includes Noli Morath, Carrie Dunlap, Michelle Beckmann-Crowe, Wendy Harms, Miles Groth, Ray Osteroos and Elizabeth Lawson.
Dunlap is the visual art instructor at Manitou Springs Elementary. The certified art educator was “instrumental in designing the ART Sack,” Fay said.
Lawson is MSES’ music educator and has taught extensively for the MSAA.
“She has a deep understanding of benefits of partnering with a nonprofit in order to deepen the experience of arts education in the public schools,” Fay said.
Dunlap and Lawson will help with the assembly and distribution of the ART Sacks.
Sophie Thunberg, a local actress and Manitou schools alumna, assembles the ART Sacks and created a playful instructional video about using them. She’ll also present virtual interactive theater workshops to students as part of the program.
Deborah Thornton, the “curious choreographer of creativity” (aka executive director) for the Imagination Celebration, is overseeing Manitou Connections, which received $4,000.
The project will center on the Portal, the large gold shipping container that’s spent the coronavirus lockdown at the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce.
“With funding from MACH, the Manitou Connections project will support global conversations and possible collaborations among a range of Manitou creatives and cohorts around the world,” Thornton said.
This is possible through the wonders of the Portal’s technology: an 8-foot-by-8-foot screen and cameras in Manitou’s Portal and their counterparts in the United States and other nations.
“These connections will provide a global stage shining a light on Manitou Springs and our uniquely strong creative community,” she said.
Thornton sees these “powerful first-person encounters” as a way to break down stereotypes about others, fostering creativity, positivity and deeper understanding.
They’ve been online only during the pandemic, but Thornton said the Portal will be back in action as soon as possible, with Mary O’Meallie returning as the portal curator.
O’Meallie has managed connections with faraway places including Africa, Berlin, Australia, Afghanistan, Mexico, Honduras and The Netherlands.
She’s hosted locals including Manitou Springs Elementary students, the Front Porch Singers, artists Mark Wong and Tina Riesterer, and musicians Ed Parsons, Joe Johnson, Steve Wood and the Manitou Vibes.
The Portal has also hosted residents and tourists, and Thornton and O’Meallie are eager to do more.
Anyone interested in the next round of funding should apply by May 31. Applications should be available Friday, April 23, on the MACH page of the city website. Go to www.manitouspringsgov.com and search for MACH.