Grant Funds Available for Busing!

The Rhode Island State Arts Council (RISCA) has decided to designate an initial $20,000 from its federal grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to help schools with the cost of hiring buses to transport students to arts and cultural events and programs!

This new program, based on successful programs in Iowa and Massachusetts, will help school students attend concerts at the Providence Performing Arts Center and Veterans Memorial Auditorium, plays at Trinity Rep and the Gamm Theatre, museum exhibitions at the RISD Museum and the Newport Art Museum, and countless other arts opportunities that are currently unavailable to Rhode Island school students because of lack of funding for buses and coverage for classroom teachers.

One such opportunity is Kaleidoscope's performance of Rapunzel on May 13th! Tickets to this performance are still available (only $5.50/ticket) and can be purchased by calling Kaleidoscope Theatre at (401) 942-3637. For camps and day care centers, the grant funding for the buses can also be applied to our summer 2010 summer series!

Under the terms of this new program, schools can apply for up to $400 per trip, with each school eligible to receive support for one trip per year in order to ensure that as many schools as possible can participate in this program. Applications will be funded until the money runs out, but it is the Arts Council’s intention to evaluate this program and continue to support it – contingent on availability of sufficient funds -- into the foreseeable future.

To apply for funding to attend one of our upcoming spring or summer programs, check out RISCA's website!