GIVING

COURTESY PHOTO Frankpress Theatre Conspiracy The Southwest Florida Community Foundation, the Alliance of the Arts, the Lee County Tourist Development Council and the City of Fort Myers have partnered for the fourth consecutive year by pooling their resources and awarding more than $263,000 in grants to Lee County nonprofit agencies providing programming in arts and attractions.

The grant cycle provides two types of funding: Marketing and Visitor Enhancement Grants, which complement ongoing marketing and enhancement of visitors' experiences of an agency's programming and cultural offerings; and Basic Operating Grants, which focus on general administration, operations and programs of the arts and attractions, including capital improvements.

Because many of the area granting sources do not cover "arts and attractions" agencies or they do not provide for marketing and operations funding, there is a real and continuing need for this type of granting opportunity.

This collaboration has allowed the Foundation, the Alliance, the TDC and the City to combine our resources to better support this underfunded area of our community.

If you would like to support this grant cycle, please contact the Community Foundation office at 239-274-5900.

The 2007 Arts and Attractions Grant Cycle Awards

Marketing and Visitor Enhancement Grants
Arts for ACT Gallery and Boutique . $6,000
Alliance for the Arts ...............................$25,000
Art League of Bonita Springs ............... $7,500
Art League of Fort Myers ..................... $7,500
ArtFest Fort Myers, Inc. ....................... $15,000
Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum .........$5,000
BIG Arts ........................................................$5,000
Boca Grande Historical Society & Museum, Inc. ............$4,000
Bonita Springs Historical Society .......$5,000
Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium ............ $12,000
Cape Coral Cultural Park Theatre Company....................$ 2,500
CROW ...........................................................$4,500
ECHO ...........................................................$10,000
Edison Festival of Light ........................$10,000
Florida Arts, Inc. .......................................$11,000
Florida Repertory Theatre .................. $15,000
Fort Myers Symphonic Chorus, Inc. ..$1,500
Friends of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve ....................$5,000
Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra, Inc. ........... $7,500
Gulfshore Playhouse ................................$3,000
Imaginarium .................................................$4,160
Lee County Black History Society, Inc. ........ $5,000
Sanibel Music Festival .............................$5,000
Sanibel Sea School ....................................$8,700
Schoolhouse Theater Foundation ...... $7,500
SWFL Attractions Association ............$8,500
SWFL Museum of History ....................$2,500
SWFL Symphony.....................................$10,000

Basic Operating Grants
Cape Coral Historical Museum ...........$2,200
Gulfcoast Dance, Inc. ...............................$6,500
Gulfshore Ballet, Inc. ...............................$5,000
Music Foundation of SWFL..................$5,000
Randell Research Center, FL Museum, UFL............ $13,800
Theatre Conspiracy ................................$10,000
Young Artists Awards, Inc. ................... $7,500

The Southwest Florida Community Foundation has been supporting the communities of Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades and Hendry through endowed funds for 30 years. With assets of more than $55 million and 313 endowed funds, the community foundation has provided more than $25 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves.

For more information, please call 274-5900, or visit our web site at www.floridacommunity.com ¦