PORT TOWNSEND — Centrum has won a $25,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant for its upcoming summer music programs.
The Port Townsend nonprofit arts and educational center is the only facility to receive one of 22 NEA Arts grants for a city with a population of less than 50,000 in the state of Washington.
Most of the $1.5 million in statewide grants went to Seattle, followed by Spokane, Olympia (population 51,000), and Vancouver.
Centrum’s Art Works grant will help pay for instructors features in summer workshops including Voice Works, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes and the Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival, Executive Director Robert Birman said Tuesday.
“It’s sort of a stamp of Good Housekeeping,” he said.
“We bring standard bearers to our community to be on our faculty, standard-bearers of traditions, and NEA supports us doing that.”
While Centrum has had longstanding support from the NEA, Birman was somewhat surprised “because of all the tumult in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
“A lot of agencies have been decimated in terms of federal funding. Oddly, under the Trump administration, NEA funding has gone up, which is perplexing.
“Any time they are able to support regional arts organizations across the county, everyone is grateful,” he continued.
“It’s a sign that what we are doing is of national significance, so we are always appreciative of that support, and we don’t take it for granted.”
Art Works is the Arts Endowment’s principal grant-making program.
The NEA awarded 977 grants nationwide, selecting the Art Works awards from among 1,592 applications.
Centrum’s annual $3.7 million budget supports more than 20 workshops each year and year-round artist residencies at Fort Worden.
Centrum served more than 2,200 artists in 2018 year from 17 countries, all 50 states and 77 percent Washington’s 39 counties, according to the release.
More than 11,000 people attended presentations at the center.
“Organizations such as Centrum are giving people in their community the opportunity to learn, create, and be inspired,” Mary Anne Carter, NEA acting chair, said in a press release.
“These awards, reaching every corner of the United States, are a testament to the artistic richness and diversity in our country.”
The 2019 summer season begins June 7-15 with Centrum’s Chamber Music Workshop week, featuring the American String Quartet and 10 up-and-coming chamber musicians who will be mentored by Lucinda Carver and members of the quartet.
The quartet was selected by the Asociación de Críticos Musicales de la Argentina as “the best foreign chamber ensemble” of 2017.
The award celebrated a performance by the Quartet at the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires and the group’s history of performances throughout South America.
Voice Works runs June 24-29; Fiddle Tunes, June 30-July 7; the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference, July 14-21; Jazz Port Townsend, July 21-28; the Acoustic Blues workshop, July 28-Aug. 4; Dance This! Camp, Aug. 11-18; and the Port Townsend Ukulele Festival, Sept. 11-15.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
