Fourteen area organizations have received grants totaling $14,836 as part of the statewide Grassroots Arts Program (GAP). Each was selected for a proposal to provide new arts experiences for the community or to expand existing programs and reach new audiences.

The Grassroots Arts Program (GAP) is funded by the Georgia Council for the Arts through appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly to ensure all Georgians have access to the arts activities which enrich our lives. Arts Clayton was selected as a Grassroots Agency by the Georgia Council for the Arts to administer this program. Every Georgia county receives an equal per-capita allocation. Arts Clayton, as the appointed re-granting agency, is responsible for collecting applications and distributing the funds in Clayton, Fayette, Henry and Spalding Counties in accordance with State regulations.

This statewide arts program is designed to encourage local collaborations between artists, arts organizations, and non-arts organizations, in order to serve a broad range of Georgia’s residents. Funding is open to any non-profit organization or unit of local government. Ideally, GAP Projects create new opportunities for citizens to experience the arts, while fostering greater awareness and developing local partnerships in the arts. Funded projects must be accessible to the general public, must provide 50 percent of the total project cost as a cash match for the grant, and projects must be completed by June 30, 2006.

The Grassroots Advisory Committee of 13 volunteers met in November to determine and recommend funding allocations. In the four county area nearly $50,000 in art grant funding was requested and only $14,836 was available to re-grant. Fayette County’s funded projects for fiscal year 2006 are: Evolving Pointe, An originally written and choreographed ballet, “The Grinch…A Contemporary Ballet”; Friends of Fayetteville Public Library, Art for Families Series; Southern Crescent Alliance for Visual Artists (SCAVA), Georgia’s Riches - Traveling Art Exhibit; Starr’s Mill High School Chorus, Missa Romantica - public premiere of a new choral work.

For further information about GAP or to put your name on the GAP mailing list to receive future information for this region contact: Arts Clayton, PO Box 669, Jonesboro, GA 30237; 770-473-5775; fax- 770-473-5422; email: artline@artsclayton.org.

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