Arts Council of Hillsborough County Grants Program

Help us save the Arts Council of Hillsborough County Grants program!

The Arts Council of Hillsborough County’s grant program provides essential annual support to local cultural organizations that add $292 million to the local economy and employ more than 8,000 people.

The Hillsborough County Administration has proposed to eliminate funding for this critical grant program for the coming year.

You can help us save this valuable grant program by participating in this petition. It will be presented to the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners in July to urge their continued support for the Arts Council Grants Program.

If you’d like to help, simply click here http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/saveartscouncil2010funding/and add your signature to the petition. In the "comments" box, please type your zip code i.e. Hillsborough 33601.

Also, the site randomly asks for donations to "IPetitions." This is not necessary since it counts your signature if you simply "X" out of the site from the donation window. We need as many signatures as possible from Hillsborough County by JULY 14, 2010.

To learn more about the importance of supporting this petition, please read on…A strong cultural community is a vital economic engine in Hillsborough County.More than 4.2 million residents and visitors attend arts and cultural events year-round in Hillsborough County.

Thousands upon thousands of Hillsborough County school children benefit from arts education programs provided at little or no charge by local arts and cultural organizations.The arts are an important policy asset and prosperity generator for local government. In addition to their inherent value to society, our local cultural organizations are:

• ECONOMIC DRIVERS: The arts create jobs and produce tax revenue. The arts sector stimulates business activity, attracts tourism revenue, retains a high quality work force and stabilizes property values. The arts have been shown to be a successful and sustainable strategy for revitalizing rural areas, inner cities and populations struggling with poverty.
  
• EDUCATIONAL ASSETS: The arts foster young imaginations and facilitate children’s success in school. They provide the critical thinking, communications and innovation skills essential to a productive 21st‐century work force.
  
• CIVIC CATALYSTS: The arts create a welcoming sense of place and a desirable quality of life. The arts also support a strong democracy, engaging citizens in civic discourse, dramatizing important issues and encouraging collective problem solving.
  
• CULTURAL LEGACIES: The arts preserve unique culture and heritage, passing precious cultural character and traditions along to future generations.
  

Hard times require public officials to make the most of every asset and to adopt policies that maximize recovery potential. The arts are a proven part of that mix. The arts are a recovery asset that supports jobs, stimulates commerce, stabilizes property values and provides many other economic benefits.

In addition to their many economic advantages, the arts offer timely assistance with educational and civic challenges that tend to escalate during tough times. The arts are also central to community resiliency. Whether facing economic distress, natural disasters or other adversity, the arts are a powerful force for recovery and healing, a benefit that few other industries offer.

We hope you will join us by supporting the arts in Hillsborough County by participating in this petition.

Remember Field Trips?

We sometimes take for granted the importance of introducing youth to the arts.

Each year, field trip programs have decreased throughout schools, due to the lack of county budgets. Many schools are only allowed a few field trips for the entire year. Others don’t plan any, due to gargantuan work loads and a multitude of tests scheduled throughout the year. Our students sometimes are overworked without a chance to ever experience the arts. Arts in schools are being wiped out due to budget cuts. It is essential that we do our part in providing an outlet for the future generations to experience the arts.

TBPAC belives in providing outlets for students to experience the performing arts! The foundation of TBPAC's educational programming is the Field Trip Performance Series. Each year students from public, private and home schools come to TBPAC during the school day to enjoy high quality, age-appropriate productions. TBPAC recognizes the challenges that FCAT testing poses to teachers in the State of Florida, and understands teachers’ reluctance to take students away from the classroom environment to attend performances during the school day. To enhance the educational connection between our shows and your curriculum, each Field Trip Performance Series presentation is coded with the applicable Sunshine State Standards that the show and its corresponding study guide helps to meet.

Last year TBPAC's Feild Trip Performance Series served 39,980 students!

Help do your part and spread the word of what we offer for schools. Help us bring the arts and together we can provide an unforgettable experience.

“I’m so happy that you have these programs. I’m a teacher at a Title 1 school. Most of my students have never seen any theater before, let alone an opera. It was so amazing to see all of their faces light up throughout the performance. We spent the entire bus ride back, talking about the performance. When we returned to school, they asked when we could come back.” – 5th grade Language Teacher.

Hey Home School Families! Do you need some ideas for what to do during Spring Break?

TBPAC is doing a special Spring Break performance of the play, The Man Who Planted Trees, on April 15th-16th.

The Man Who Planted Trees is based on the book of the same name and is a very funny and delightfully excellent way to spread knowledge of being environmentally friendly. This is a truly wonderful show for the whole family to attend.

Prices for this show are $6.50 per ticket.

For any additional information or questions, concerns or comments, please contact Spencer Meyers the Field Trip/Group Sales Coordinator at 813.222.1047.

-Spencer M.