REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY
2023 ST. LOUIS ARTS AWARDS
On April 17, 2023, we celebrated 60 years of the Arts and Education Council and our region’s rich artistic legacy and future at the Chase Park Plaza by honoring artists, educators, organizations and corporate citizens for their contributions to our community. The 2023 honorees recognized at the 32nd annual event were: Barbara Berner, Lifetime Achievement in the Arts; Eugene B. Redmond, Lifetime Achievement in the Arts; Judy Best-Person, Lifetime Achievement in the Arts; Steven Schankman, Excellence in the Arts; John Russell, Excellence in Philanthropy; Suzanne Palmer, Art Educator of the Year: Legacy; and Jermaine Smith, Art Educator of the Year: Leading the Future.
Together, we raised more than $236,000, including $16,625 for the Arts and Education Fund for Teachers. Proceeds benefit more than 45 arts and arts education organizations impacting 1.6 million people throughout the 16-county, bi-state region.
2023-24 ARTS AND EDUCATION COUNCIL GRANTS
In the past year, we funded 45 unique organizations—29% of those being first-time grantees—and were able to invest over $315,000 back into the community through our combined funding. These grants supply the resources necessary for our community to harness the power of the arts to heal, educate, innovate and inspire.
AmerenCares Equity in the Arts Philanthropic Grant Program is a partnership between Ameren Missouri and the Arts and Education Council. This special grant opportunity is designed for and limited in focus to historically underrepresented and underfunded nonprofit organizations that are racially, ethnically diverse at the decision-making level to help energize the path of all artistic voices and dreams for today and tomorrow.
The Equity in the Arts Grant is a one-year gift, awarding the 18 recipient organizations a collective total of nearly $125,000 in 2023-24.
2023-24 AmerenCares Grantees
The African Heritage Association
Artists First St. Louis
Dream Tree Academy 573
Ferguson Youth Initiative
Film Camp USA
Freedom Arts & Education Center
Gateway Music Outreach
HEAL Center for the Arts
Hispanic Festival, Inc.
Intercultural Music Initiative
Invest STL
Kimbilio Fiction
Pointe of Surrender Dance Studio
The Soulard School
St. Louis Artworks
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective
WerQfest
Youth Arts & Technology Center
Arts and Healing Initiative in partnership with Missouri Foundation for Health, the five-year grant aims to improve the quality of life for people throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County and other Missouri counties. The overarching goal of the Arts and Healing Initiative is to increase the capacity to heal through the arts.
In 2023, the initiative awarded $100,000 in grants to 10 organizations who have a primary mission that is directly concerned with arts, arts education, healing and well-being. Applications were evaluated by the Arts and Healing Initiative Advisory Panel comprised of leaders in the arts, healthcare and research fields. The Arts and Healing Initiative is supported with funding from Missouri Foundation for Health.
2023-24 Arts & Healing Initiative Grantees
Bread and Roses Missouri
A Call to Conscience, Inc.
Circus Harmony
The Core Collective at Saint Vincent
The Covering House
Different Dynamics
Pack Dance (formerly Consuming Kinetics Dance Company)
Ragtag Film Society
The Big Muddy Dance Company
The Women’s Safe House
Bayer Fund Rural Community Arts Program has provided access to the arts to more than 142,000 people in rural communities across the bi-state region for nearly two decades. Since establishing the partnership in 2007, the Arts and Education Council and Bayer Fund, a philanthropic arm of Bayer in the U.S., have provided more than $250,000 in grants to organizations who bring artists and entertainers into classrooms and performance venues so that people in rural communities can thrive with increased connection to the arts. In 2023-24, 5 recipients each received $5,000 in support of this mission.
2023-24 Bayer Fund Rural Community Arts Program Grantees
Half Act Theatre Company
Highland Arts Council
Jacoby Arts Center
Jersey County Arts Council
The Macoupin Art Collective
Arts and Education Fund for Teachers is administered by the Arts and Education Council with financial backing from PNC Foundation and helps support classroom-based projects and opportunities designed to connect the arts with curriculum and enhance learning for K-12 students in the St. Louis bi-state area. We were thrilled to award 12 educators this year who will share nearly $65,000.
2023-24 Arts and Education Fund for Teachers Grantees
Dawn Lynn, Willow Brook Elementary School
James McKay, Hazelwood Northwest Middle School
Robin Mik, Adams Elementary School
Constance Miller, Ames Visual & Performing Arts Elementary School
Tyler Moore, STEAM Academy Middle School
Tim Mulhall, Confluence Academies-Grand Center Arts Academy
Karen Norman, Mason School of Academic and Cultural Literacy
Kari Schepker-Mueller, Maplewood Richmond Heights Early Childhood Center
Milton Stevenson V, Parkway South Middle School
Justin Straight, STEAM Academy Middle School
Sydney Swanson, North Point High School
Larissa Young, Larimore Elementary School
THANK YOU!
TOGETHER, WE KEEP ART HAPPENING!
