EAST LANSING, Mich. — The East Lansing Art Festival (ELAF), All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre (AECT) and Summer Solstice Jazz Festival (SSJF) recently were awarded Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) grants totaling $17,000.

The grants were awarded through the MCACA review process and were three of close to 188 applications to compete for MCACA fiscal year 2011 funding.

East Lansing Art Festival
ELAF was awarded a $7,500 MCACA grant, which will help support the two-day arts event that takes place on the weekend preceding the Memorial Day holiday weekend each May in downtown East Lansing. Ranked as one of the top 100 art festivals in the nation, ELAF brings more than 100 renowned artists and an estimated 70,000 art lovers to Greater Lansing each year. It is a rite of spring in the region and is known for exhibiting the highest caliber fine art and fine craft from across North America. This year’s festival will take place May 19-20.

"The MCACA grant award makes it possible for us to provide high quality arts and programming free to the public at the East Lansing Art Festival,” said ELAF Director Corinn VanWyck. “The ELAF attracts tens of thousands of visitors to our region annually, generating a positive economic benefit to local businesses. The MCACA grant supports not only this arts and cultural event, but our local economy as well.”

All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre
AECT was awarded a $6,000 MCACA grant, which will help support its mission: to offer young people of all backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles the opportunity to produce professional quality plays, study many aspects of the dramatic arts and develop many valuable life skills while providing outstanding entertainment to the community. Through the AECT Guild Program, youth participants learn valuable life skills through an education in all areas and aspects of theater. AECT brings four major productions to the Greater Lansing community each year with the help of hundreds of local youth from throughout the region.

"All-of-us Express is honored to be the recipient of this grant award,” said Program Coordinator Kathleen Miller. “These funds provide us with the opportunity to utilize the performing arts to enrich the lives of our participants, their families and the community."

Summer Solstice Jazz Festival
SSJF was awarded a $3,500 MCACA mini-grant through the Arts Council of Greater Lansing. These funds will help support the two-day, jazz-infused festival, which takes place each June in the heart of downtown East Lansing. The festival features an eclectic mix of local and national jazz acts and draws more than 10,000 visitors to the region annually. This year’s SSJF will take place June 22-23. 

“We were pleased to learn that we were granted the $3,500 MCACA mini-grant,” said SSJF Coordinator Ami Van Antwerp. “The funds will be instrumental in producing this culturally rich and growing jazz event for our community again this year.”

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 culture professionals. This ensures the taxpayers, who support this project through legislative appropriations, and all other visitors or residents in Michigan will have access to the highest quality 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 www.themedc.org/arts.