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Arts Commission News

U.S. Senator Thad Cochran Co-Sponsors National Endowment for The Arts Grants Workshop for Mississippi Arts Organizations

DATE:              August 17, 2006

CONTACT:     Susan Dobbs, Public Relations Director                                       601-359-6031 or sdobbs@arts.state.ms.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Washington, D.C. – Senator Thad Cochran and the Mississippi Arts Commission will host Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) at a press conference on Thursday, August 24 from 2:00-2:30 p.m. at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson.  The press conference will focus on the importance of arts funding to Mississippi, especially in light of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In addition to Chairman Gioia, Malcolm White, Executive Director of the Mississippi Arts Commission, will participate in the press conference, and will speak on the current state of the arts in Mississippi.   Betsy Bradley, Director of the Mississippi Museum of Art, also will speak about the NEA funding her organization has received and its impact on the museum’s growth.

The press conference kicks off a workshop led by Tony Chauveaux, NEA Deputy Chairman for Grants and Awards, for prospective Endowment applicants as part of the agency’s outreach to Mississippi. The workshop will be held at the Mississippi Museum of Art and is intended to help leaders of nonprofit arts organizations learn more about federal arts funding opportunities and how to apply for Arts Endowment grants.

Following the workshop, Chairman Gioia will visit arts organizations in the gulf coast region.  The NEA has awarded $700,000 in relief grants to arts agencies affected by the hurricanes—$500,000 to individual organizations and state and local arts agencies in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas, and $200,000 for regional partnership in the Mayor’s Institute on City Design and Your Town, two of the country’s most established city planning and design programs.

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