Programs

  • Share Art Genesee Program

    SHARE ART GENESEEOur 2024 marketing plan was designed to drive people to the website shareartgenesee.org, where all the information about the program was available, as well as a portal to access the online application. Since most of the applicants are now familiar with our process, we opted to give one on one virtual consultations again in 2024 instead of group workshops. Eleven applicants took advantage of consultations including Wishing Well Theatre, Young Artistic Minds, Harvest Theater Company, Tapology, Flint Childrens Museum, Fenton Community Orchestra, Clio Amphitheater, Genesee County Historical Society, Whaley Historical House Museum, Jazz On Wheels and Fenton Arts and Cultural Commission. Some had new staff that were not acquainted with the program. There were four first-time applicants. Others wanted to know how they could improve their applications. There were twenty-four completed applications. A review team of five members was assembled. Those with a broad exposure and knowledge of the arts and no direct affiliations with the applicant organizations were chosen. The grants were scored according to the four sections in the narrative portion with twenty five points being available for each section, Management, Artistic Quality, Community Involvement and Additional Considerations (Marketing, Fund Raising, Media Coverage, etc). There were also bonus points for organizations that were willing to take some extra steps in advancing their development: Use of the geneseefun.com website, updating their donor page at Guidestar and setting up an account at DataArts.org which gives them a free 3 year report on financials and audience activity and access to a free annual report. The review team scores were averaged, bonus points awarded and a final score was assigned to each application. ARTS INCUBATORArts Incubator continued to serve artists and arts organizations. Most of the programs and services of GFAC fall into this category. Our incubator services include event production to employ artists, consultations, sharing of our space and equipment, funding from our grant programs and formulation of alliances, pairing people and organizations for mutual benefit. Suzanne Lossing consults with those seeking funding. We were knot able to accA report was generated with the applicants listed from highest to lowest score.A funding plan was developed (attached) using the scores of the review team and distributing the available funds fairly. A special effort was made to fund as many organizations as possible to maximize the popularity of the project throughout the county. All of the applications received acceptable scores and thus received an award. A press release was sent to media sources in Genesee County and some reported on who received the grants. We also display posters for any arts and/or cultural event. We are an information hub where people can contact us for information about arts programs throughout Genesee County. We receive calls daily on our phone line, 810-238-ARTS. We receive requests by email, facebook and in person. GFAC received more than 7,000 requests for arts information in 2024. Direct email has become the most frequent way people contact us. Our staff provided consultations with visual, performing and literary artists throughout the year. We worked with more than 500 visual artists and more than 700 musicians in 2024. The increase in the number of musicians is due to two new programs, Music on the Bricks and Friday Night Fever, supplying downtown venues with live music. WFAH 102.1 PUBLIC RADIOBrendan Whitman continued as Station Manager in 2024. We did some strategic promotions for Mott Community College, Flint Institute of Music and Flint Repertory Theatre. We also recorded and broadcast interviews with key artists including the Buckham Gallery Resident Poet . We continue to stream our jazz programs online 24/7. We are able to track who is listening to the online stream. Our listeners come from 54 countries. Our live stream had 4,907 listeners in 2024 which represents a 48% increase in listeners. We are not able to track how many people listen to our live broadcast. We receive compliments on our broadcasts frequently. We are currently using the tower at the Flint Fire Station at Pierson and Dupont in north Flint. We are negotiating with TV 66 to use their tower on Pierson Road, which will greatly expand our range. ARTWALKWe produced exhibitions and opening receptions 11 months in 2024. We had to close our gallery in March due to installation of a fire suppression system. We increased ARTWALK partners to 20, the highest number since COVID. Attendance is growing but still about 80% of pre-covid levels at an estimated 2,700 visitors each month. The two months of highest attendance were April and May when we hosted large student shows at GFAC. GFAC EXHIBITIONSWe produced a unique variety of exhibitions throughout the year. All of our exhibitions are with Michigan artists. Our 2024 Exhibitions were:January Artist Members of GFACFebruary African American Artists of MichiganMarch Gallery closedApril Young Artists Today Tri-County High School Exhibition May University of Michigan Art & Design Annual Student Exhibition June Michigan Artists InvitationalJuly Michigan Artists InvitationalAugust Michigan Artists InvitationaalSeptember Michigan PhotographersOctober Michigan Artists InvitationalNovember Claire Mott White Michigan Clay ArtistsDecember Michigan Water Color Society traveling exhibition 220 Students from 22 High Schools in Genesee, Lapeer and Shiawassee Counties participated in the Young Artists Today Exhibition. 125 Students were represented in the UM Student Show. We offered full catering and live music by paid local bands during each ARTWALK. Our gallery is open 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. We receive 10 to 15 visitors daily in the gallery (estimated 3,380 annual). Attendance in our gallery during ARTWALK has been about 800 (estimated 9,600 annual). GFAC exhibitions served over 500 visual artists and employed 54 musicians.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
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    $1.3M

  • Community Music Festivals

    Tunes At Noon Festival July 8 Aug. 16, 2024We produced the festival at Willson Park, a lovely oasis neatly nestled between UM Flint and the Farmers Market. We did 30 concerts total, 12:45-1:15pm daily. Our average daily attendance was 175 (5,250 total). Ninety paid musicians were engaged throughout the six week festival. Music styles included Jazz, pop, blues, gospel, African percussion, Latin, and funk. 41st Annual Flint Jazz Festival and JAZZWALK July 26-28, 2024We were not able to produce JAZZWALK in 2024 due to construction in Riverbank Park. We moved the festival to the Clio Amphitheater as it is the best outdoor entertainment venue in Genesee County. We contracted three stellar headliners for Friday through Sunday including Phil Denny with Kayla Waters, Jeff Lorber Fusion and the Roger Jones Jr Quartet. Due to moving the festival, attendance was poor at 750 attendees for the three day festival. PARADE OF FESTIVALSIn 2024 GFAC produced the Flint Jazz Festival and Tunes at Noon. We gave financial and marketing support to Cinco de Mayo, Juneteenth, DROP Fest, Goodstock, Alley Fest, Pride Fest, Porch Fest, Civic Park Blues Fest, Flint Restaurant Week and Flint City Comedy Festival. We managed a marketing campaign that included 18 festivals. To help regenerate business in downtown Flint, due to the construction project on Saginaw Street, GFAC began two new monthly programs, Music on the Bricks (First Fridays) and Friday Night Fever (Third Fridays). We pay bands and djs to play in 5-6 venues downtown on the same night. We are also working with a group of organizations to start a 4th Saturday family oriented STEAM event. It took time to re-organize this program after Todd Beard left it. Suzanne Lossing is now organizing the project and her first event took place at St Pauls Episcopal Church. It was a successful puppet making workshop incorporating making puppets using math, engineering and storytelling. Detailed information on all these programs is forthcoming in the Parade of Festivals final report.REGIONAL REGRANTINGAs a representative of the MACC Regional Regranting program, we were able to distribute funds from the State of Michigan to local projects in Genesee, Lapeer and Shiawassee Counties. In 2024, GFAC made 14 grants for arts projects totaling $30,555 and 2 professional development grants to individual artists totaling $2,220. CREATIVE PLACEMAKING PROGRAMThroughout 2024, 6,270 people attended 241 resident-driven placemaking activities and workshops including pop up fitness, music, art, performance, and technology small audience engagements. 54 artists were engaged to lead activities. A separate final report with more details has been submitted to the Mott Foundation.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
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