Cooper Foundation Awards First Quarter Grants

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

COOPER FOUNDATION AWARDS FIRST QUARTER GRANTS

Lincoln, Neb. — The Cooper Foundation awarded a grant of $15,000 to LUX Center for the Arts, for their Artist-In-Residence program 2017-2018. LUX Center began its residency program in 2003 to provide emerging artists with opportunities to hone their studio skills and gain an appreciation for teaching public art classes for youth and adults. Residencies are offered in ceramics, painting, drawing, mixed media, fibers and metals. These opportunities are tailored to artists who have an appreciation for community both at the LUX and within the larger context of Lincoln. In mid-2017, the new LUX Ceramics Center will be completed, as part of the first phase of a capital campaign. This will double the classroom space and the number of students served, beginning in June 2017.

In addition, the foundation’s first quarter meeting March 10 awarded grants to a diverse group of arts, community improvement, education, environment, humanities and human services organizations. Other projects of note include sponsorship of Jazz in June summer concert series, and funding to Nebraska Land Trust toward land protection efforts in Nebraska’s Pine Ridge and Lower Platte Valley. In total, $170,000 was awarded; grant recipients are located in Lincoln unless otherwise noted.

Arts

LUX Center for the Arts: $15,000
Artist-In-Residence program.

Nebraska Cultural Endowment: $15,000
General operating support.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Jazz in June: $10,000
Support for the 2017 summer concert series.

Community Improvement

Community Services Fund of Nebraska: $6,000
Support for the 2017 campaign of this fundraising coalition, serving 62 diverse Nebraska nonprofit organizations.

Education

Institute for Holocaust Education: $10,000
Toward the staff position of Education Coordinator, to support training and professional development for teachers and programs and educational activities for students across Nebraska.

Lincoln Literacy: $10,000
General operating support.

University of Nebraska State Museum: $12,000
Toward a new temporary exhibit, “Guts and Glory: A Parasite Story,” opening April 22.

Environment

Nebraska Land Trust: $15,000
Operating support for 2017, to include land protection efforts in Nebraska’s Pine Ridge and a new initiative in the Lower Platte Valley.

Nature Conservancy: $10,000
Toward the purchase of the Uridil Tract, from the Crane Trust, one of the biggest single parcels left on the Central Platte.

Human Services

Child Guidance Center: $12,000
Toward general operating support, specifically for outpatient mental health services for children and families who are unable to pay.

Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest: $10,000
Operating support for the Economic Justice program, which will help improve the financial security and quality of life for low-income working families.

Seniors Foundation: $15,000
Toward the staff position of Executive Director.

Willard Community Center: $15,000
General operating support to offset additional expense of relocating programming during the center’s renovation.

Humanities

The Nebraska Folklife Network: $15,000
Support for a fieldwork survey to document an average of 30 traditional artists, 10 each in three Natural Resource Districts (NRDs) in western Nebraska.

The Cooper Foundation, established by Joseph H. Cooper in 1934, has granted nearly $23 million to benefit the people of Nebraska. The Foundation makes quarterly grants supporting arts, community improvement, education, environment, humanities and human services primarily in Lincoln and Lancaster County. For more information about grant guidelines and deadlines visit the foundation’s web site, www.cooperfoundation.org.