Leaders of the Yard announced last week that they received major grants from three sources, allowing for continuation of the arts organization’s community programming year round.
Originally founded as a summer dance colony, the program will use the funds, totalling $1.1 million, to continue to expand its offerings in the off-season.
“This is meant to bring the Yard into sync with its mission which is now not only what it does in Chilmark, but Island-wide,” said artistic director David White.
The Boston-based Barr Foundation awarded the Yard a total of $950,000 to be distributed over three years. Of those funds, $450,000 is designated for programming such as Making It and winter artist residencies. That funding will also allow Yard staff to travel for professional development opportunities such as conferences, according to development director Chloe Jones.
“It’s so critical we give staff the opportunity to make those trips, and it’s rare to have funding set aside for that,” she said.
This is the second time the Yard has earned a multi-year award from the Barr Foundation. In 2015, they received a two-year grant from the foundation to expand their off-season offerings. That helped fund the Winter Yard, which this winter brought The Wonder Twins and the French Algerian ensemble, Cie Hervé Koubi, to the Island. Flor de Toloache, a female mariachi group, performs on April 28 at the Performing Arts Center.
“The Barr helped launch that series with their initial grant, and they’re helping to maintain it,” Mr. White said.
Making It is led by Jesse Keller Jason and Leah Crosby and currently travels to venues including Island schools, senior centers, the YMCA and the Center for Living. The goal of the program is to integrate dance into Island life, and has helped teachers incorporate dance and movement in a diverse range of subjects including math and science.
“It’s really been a means of getting people in schools and elsewhere to problem solve,” Mr. White said. “Dance is a malleable art form.”
The remaining $500,000 of the Barr funds will be set aside as seed money for future projects including a renovation of the Chilmark facilities to make them usable in the winter as well as the summer. Mr. White said they hope to build accessible facilities to support more dance programs from their Chilmark home base, including after-school programs for children, year round.
Next year, one of the Winter Yard’s featured artists will be hip hop dancer Amirah Sackett, founder of the dance group “We’re Muslim, Don’t Panic.”
The Yard received an additional grant of $30,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for their summer season, Yard Arts. The NEA has funded the organization’s summer programming for several years, according to Ms. Jones.
They received an additional $30,000 from the Cultural Facilities Fund of Massachusetts to go toward planning for renovations at the Yard campus.
Mr. White said the tentative goal is to have the project completed by the Yard’s 50th anniversary in 2023.
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