Story by staff | February 8, 2010 | Tags: brenda larson, Community, don frantz, lazy daze, lyman collins, TOC, town of Cary
Cary, NC – The Town of Cary’s Laze Daze Festival awarded $30,000 in grant money Thursday evening to 28 local arts and culture groups.
Lazy Daze is the largest event the town produces each year, bringing artists and visitors from all over the country. Last year’s festival, had 19 states represented with artists and more than 60,000 visitors.
33 YEARS OF SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY
Cary cultural arts manager Lyman Collins told the groups, who gathered for the 2009 grants reception at the Page-Walker House in downtown Cary, that in its 33-year history, Lazy Daze has granted $475,000 to community groups promoting arts and cultural projects and events.
Past community co-chair Paul Wasylkevych distributed the 2009 grant money with the assistance of town councilman Don Frantz, who thanked the groups for the work they do in the community.
“You all help make Cary the best place to live,” Frantz told them, as he prepared to hand out the funds.
Wasylkevych told the guests they had been selected from a large pool of groups who requested a total of $78,000 in funding from the festival committee. See below for a complete list of grant recipients.
3D ART PIECE IS A FIRST
As part of the reception, the grant recipients had a sneak peek at the official artwork for the 2010 Lazy Daze Festival, to be used in posters and promotional material, and met the artist who created the unique piece, Janet Lynn Burgess. This is the first time the festival has used a three-dimensional piece of art as its representative work.
Burgess, who was introduced by the Festival’s 2010 community co-chair Brenda Larson, has a studio in Statesville, N.C. She explained the technique used to create the unique enamel piece, glass melted on copper in several stages, swirled and managed to represent the vibrancy and liveliness of the Lazy Daze Festival.
MORE INFO
The 2010 Laze Daze Festival will be held Aug. 28, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., in downtown Cary.
Visit the Town’s website for more information.
———————————————————————-
LAZY DAZE 2009 GRANT RECIPIENTS
Grants are awarded at the end of the Lazy Daze year. Here are the recipients for 2009:
The Associacion Puertorriquenos Unidos de Carolina del Norte focuses on promoting events that showcase the richness of the Puerto Rican culture such as last year’s Caribbean Festival held at Herb Young Community Center. They will be using their Lazy Daze Grant to go toward general operating expenses associated with creating and promoting fun cultural events.
The Cary-Apex Piano Teachers Association represents over 1,000 youth and adult piano students comprising a vital part of this area’s cultural landscape. The Lazy Daze grant will allow the Association to sponsor its annual guest recital, which is free and open to the public, as well as the annual student master class, which provides students with an opportunity for focused musical growth.
Cary Ballet will use the Lazy Daze grant to fund its annual “Celebration of Children in the Arts” festival this October. This celebration showcases talented local youth in dance, martial arts, musical and various other performances, and allows families to create art to take home at a free, flexible-time festival. Artwork by local students will be displayed and there will be wide range of craft activities.
The Lazy Daze grant to the Cary Community Choir is earmarked for their annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah, which, having taken place since 1971, is one of Cary’s oldest cultural arts events. Local singers undertake a seasonal round of rehearsals that will improve their skills and knowledge of the music. The Lazy Daze funds will be used for professional soloists, an organist, and the orchestra that help make this cherished holiday event such a valued community event.
The Cary Family YMCA will use its grant to support its Camp Y-Rageous program: an eight week summer day camp free to children who live in selected communities. Many of these children would be home alone during the summer, but through Camp Y-Rageous they are able to participate in educational programs, assemblies, clinics, swim lessons, and other valuable activities at no cost. The grant awarded here will go toward enhancing the arts & craft component of the camp.
Cary Photographic Artists focuses on introducing people to the art of photography and helping to sharpen their skills. This past year they introduced a program with the help of Fellowship House in Cary to teach basic digital photography to those with moderate to severe mental illnesses. They will use their grant to purchase additional equipment to expand the program and perhaps offer similar training to other interested groups.
The Cary Players’ mission is to produce family oriented theater— enjoyable for adults, yet appropriate for children— which enables Cary residents of all ages to enjoy live theater together. The Lazy Daze grant will help underwrite the cost of their production of Love Bits and Bites 2010: The Fifth Dimension to be held at Page-Walker Arts & History Center for the Valentine’s Day holiday weekend.
The Cary Public Library offers a variety of adult programs throughout the year including the Aspiring Writer Workshop series featuring different authors and lecturers speaking on their genre specialties. This year is also the 50th anniversary of the library and a number of events are planned for the month of October to celebrate. Their grant will assist with implementing these programs.
Each year an outstanding graduating senior who has served the Cary Teen Council with distinction is awarded the Lazy Daze Scholarship. The Teen Council initiates, organizes, supervises and conducts programs and civic projects of all types, benefiting the youth of Cary and surrounding communities and helping to develop leadership qualities in its members – which are demonstrated each year at the Lazy Daze Festival through Teen Council Volunteer efforts. The Lazy Daze scholarship helps celebrate these leadership qualities.
The Cary Town Band is an important part of this community, as they regularly are requested to play special events for the Town and others. This year they plan to present seven concerts at Bond Park and the Senior Center, as well as the annual patriotic concert on July 3rd at the Bond Park Amphitheatre, a pre-symphony performance on July 4th at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre, a performance at Lazy Daze and more. The Band will use its grant for various expenses of its 2010 concert schedule.
Cary Visual Art will use its grant to partially fund its Public Art in Focus Lecture Series at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center. This lecture series features nationally recognized public art professionals and is designed to increase community exposure to a variety of public art forms and to generate interest in Cary’s potential for more public art.
At The Carying Place working homeless families with children are given support and care needed to improve their financial situation, leading to permanent housing. Funds received from the Lazy Daze grant will go toward the Children’s Program where kids are given the chance to create and experience art.
A beloved local institution, the Concert Singers of Cary produces a wide spectrum of concerts that address the vocal music interests of as many Cary-area residents as possible. Their programs include concerts by the 120+ member symphonic choir and the chamber choir. The Concert Singers’ grant will underwrite costs of all programs presented by the Concert Singers and the Cary Cary Children’s Concert Choir and Cary Youth Chorale.
Diamante, Inc. was founded to be a catalyst for change in our community by nourishing cultural and community participation among Hispanics and Hispanic-Americans. They will be using their Lazy Daze grant money to sponsor a Latin night during the Twilight Concert Series held at Page-Walker that would coincide with the presentation of Ritmo Latino in August. This will present a great opportunity to expose a new audience to the Twilight Series and expand the audience reach of Ritmo Latino Festival.
Fine Arts League of Cary provides continuing education for its members through regularly scheduled programs and encourages artists by offering opportunities to exhibit their visual art and contribute to the cultural environment of the community. They are planning to use the funds to pay for art materials for 9 monthly programs as well as honorariums to encourage artists to develop and conduct programs.
With the Kildaire Farm widening project coming to a close near the Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve, the Friends of Hemlock Bluffs, a group dedicated to supporting the nature preserve, are planning to install new gates in the now wider opening to the preserve. Art will be incorporated into the new gates to showcase the bluffs and draw people in.
In order to better serve as the guardians of the Page-Walker Arts & History Center and advocate of preservation of all Cary historic sites The Friends of Page-Walker plan to use their grant money to better preserve and archive the artifacts and documents donated to them as part of Cary’s history.
Hum Sub, Inc. will be using funds from their grant to bring the Indian festival of lights celebration, Diwali, as well as the spring festival, Basant Bahaar, free to the people of Cary. They will be promoting greater awareness of the Indian social and cultural traditions through family oriented cultural activities.
Kids Together, Inc was started in 1995 to raise funds and build public awareness for the Kids Together Playground, an interactive, handicap accessible park. When it was originally built, there were plans for a water play feature that had to be cut. Ten years after the park was built, the plans for the water play are now coming to fruition and the funds from the Lazy Daze Grant will be used toward this new interactive feature of the park.
Life Experiences is an organization that works to provide fulfilling employment for adults with developmental disabilities allowing them to function as independent, productive citizens. By implementing an arts and crafts program using the Lazy Daze grant money, they hope to help these adults explore their creative side as well as expose them to cultural activities they may not have been able to experience before such as going to a play or visiting the art museum, enriching their lives and improving their quality of life.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Taskforce of Cary is a cultural organization whose purpose is to continue the tradition of annual observance celebrating the life, work and mission of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to dismantle racism and to promote the beloved community. Funds from the Lazy Daze grant will be used to support events throughout the year commemorating Dr. King’s life, showcasing artists, performers, African Americans and other diverse people’s contributions to the world.
The NC Eid Festival, Inc will be using their Lazy Daze Grant to offer an opportunity for the community to learn a more about Muslim culture. Eid, or the Festival of Feasts marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and this cultural festival will bring a Bazaar, food, music, arts and dance from all over the world to our corner of the Triangle.
NC Historical Enrichment Society focuses on the promotion and preservation of the arts, history, culture, fantasy and folklore of the Medieval and Renaissance eras. They will be using their grant to improve their Environmental Theater program that trains actors to create an environment for patron interaction.
The Philharmonic Association has a mission to provide an opportunity for young musicians to learn, understand and perform great symphonic and jazz music. This year, they have added a fourth orchestra, the Triangle Youth String Orchestra, open to musicians in the 4th through 12th grades. The grant will help off set the costs of sheet music, financial aid for needy students, expenses for guest soloists, conductors and composers and rehearsal spaces.
Sister Cities Association is dedicated to fostering international understanding by establishing liaisons with cities in other countries and cultivating enhanced awareness of other cultures. Part of this includes continuing established celebrations centered on each of Cary’s Sister Cities such as the Beaujolais Nouveau Celebration and the St. Patrick’s Day gathering but also expanding that to include a Canada Family Day Celebration and a Hsinchu City Celebration currently under development.
Over the past several years, the Triangle Brass Band has established a strong tradition of playing summer pops concerts in communities throughout central North Carolina. This coming year they are planning three free performances at Sertoma Amphitheater in Bond Park during June and July. The Lazy Daze Grant will help fund these concerts.
The Triangle Wind Ensemble provides an outlet for skilled Cary musicians to perform quality and challenging music. They perform all over Cary ranging from formal concerts to small ensembles. Their Lazy Daze grant will be going towards the costs of renting rehearsal space and other standard expenses.
Western Wake Artists Studio Tour’s goal is to share the knowledge, involvement and appreciation for the visual fine arts and promote all those involved in the Arts community. Starting in the spring, artists around Western Wake will be opening up their studios to those interested in viewing completed works and creative environments of participating artists. The kick off reception will be held at the Cary Chamber of Commerce and funds from the Lazy Daze Grant will go towards promotion of the event.
