December 17th, 2019
The Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council is pleased to announce that Youth Scholarships of $27,800 from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, which is funded by the Clean Water, Land & Legacy Amendment, have been awarded to 64 students in grades 7-12 and 43 students in grades 3-6 throughout the region. Youth Scholarship recipients live in seventeen different communities representing eight counties,” noted Brenda Byron, PLRAC Executive Director. “We are excited about the wonderful arts and music activities these students will be involved in.” The Youth Scholarships of $300 for grades 7-12 and $200 for grades 3-6 will provide these students the opportunity to study their chosen art with a practicing professional artist by taking lessons over a period of months, or performing with a youth organization.
There was $6,200 in Arts Scholarships awarded to twenty-four Blue Earth County youth. Fourteen students in Blue Earth County were awarded $300 scholarships and include: Eli Blace, Ella Blace, Sadie Blace, Eleanor Coons-Ruskey, Ellie Fischenich, Will Fischenich, Madeline Halvorson, Lilyanna Le-Luong, Grace MacPherson, Caden Oleson, Autumn Seiwert, Sabrina Seiwert, Olivia Starkey, and Landon Willaert who are from Mankato.
Ten students in Blue Earth County were awarded $200 scholarships and include: Phoebe Bjork, Luke Blace, Brynn Evans, Evie Johnson, Lucy Kelly, Mollie Kelly, Price MacPherson, Rose MacPherson, Madelyn Wentz, and Nicholas Willaert who are from Mankato.
Students will be involved in a variety of activities including: dance classes at Dance Conservatory of Southern MN in Mankato, Mankato Ballet Company, Riverfront Performing Arts in Mankato, and Spotlight Dance Company in Mankato; music lessons at Mankato School of Music and New Ulm Suzuki School of Music; participation in Mankato Area 77 Lancers Marching Band and Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra; and a variety of lessons in cello, flute, guitar, piano, trumpet, violin, and visual art from independent instructors. There is one deadline per year for the Youth Scholarships. For grades 7-12 the next deadline date is October 1, 2020. For grades 3-6 the next deadline date is November 1, 2020.
Prairie Lakes provides grants for arts activities including dance, music, theater, literature, media arts and visual art classes and exhibitions. Applications from Non-profit Arts Organizations, Community Groups and Schools will be accepted twice a year and the next Arts & Cultural Heritage deadline is February 1, 2020. Small Arts Project Community Grants for smaller art activities and School Arts Project grants for school residences are both available for up to $2,000 and the next deadlines are January 1 and February 1, 2020.
The Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council is committed to supporting and expanding the arts in the nine-county area; knowing that the Arts improve the quality of life in our region. A monthly newsletter and calendar of arts events in the 9-county area is posted on our website; grant guidelines and a link to our online applications are available at www.plrac.org. Questions contact: Brenda Byron, Executive Director, at the Prairie Lakes office in Waseca, 1-800-298-1254 or plrac@hickorytech.net. We serve a nine-county area including Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, LeSueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca, and Watonwan Counties.