Four area band directors are recipients of the 2014 Troy Arts Council grants.
Pat Duke, TAC grant chair, said this year $300 grants were awarded to band directors Rae Denison, Charles Henderson Middle School; Trent Burkett, Charles Henderson High School; Amanda Ford, Pike Liberal Arts School; and Daniel Walden, Goshen High School.
The TAC has been presenting these grant awards for 15 years in its ongoing efforts to promote and support the arts programs in the Troy City, Pike County and private schools.
The grant awards are presented to certified teachers who make application for the grants. “These grants are what we call mini-grants and our goal is to make these small grants available to certified teachers in the visual arts and music – both choral and band –programs at our local schools,” Duke said. “A letter goes out to all the teachers and they are asked to make a simple statement regarding how they would use the grant funds. The teachers request funds for a variety of needs — for art supplies, for new music stands or to refurbish instruments, many different things.”
Although the grant awards are relatively small amounts, Duke said the funds do help fill needs in the music and visual arts programs.
The amount of the grants offered to the teachers depends mainly on the TAC’s patrons’ support, which ranges from the “friends’ level,” that starts at $10, to the corporate level that can be $1,000 or more.
“We’re going to start our patrons’ drive earlier this year,” Duke said. “We’ll have our first program in September so we’ll have our patrons’ drive in July or early August. The patrons’ drive supports our programs in the schools and our grants program.
The patrons’ drive is an opportunity for the people in Troy and Pike County to support our students.”
The TAC’s commitment to the community is through its arts program, which includes a calendar year of performing arts events, in-school arts programs, and the teacher grants program. The TAC is the sponsor of the annual Jean Lake Memorial Scholarship that is awarded annually to a local high school senior who plans to continue taking art classes in college. The TAC also contributes to other scholarship programs involving the arts.