Arts Spotlight written on a dark blue background with unfocused orbs of light

 

Each month we feature arts and community-based organizations and their programs and projects funded by the Delaware Division of the Arts in our Arts Spotlight which will be included on our monthly e-newsletter, Arts E-News and online. If you haven’t signed up yet for Arts E-News, please do so here.

Funding for Division of the Arts grants is provided by the Delaware General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. To view past grants awarded (1999 to present), please visit our Grants Awarded page.

Grant Types: GOS – General Operating Support; PS – Project Support

August 2023

 

Wilmington's Sugar Bowl Music Venue

Friends of Wilmington Parks
Live! in the Parks Summer Concert Series
Wilmington, Delaware
Project Support

Friends of Wilmington Parks, in partnership with Wilmington State Parks, presents the LIVE! In the Parks Summer Concert Series. This exciting free family-friendly concert series is hosted in two locations: the Sugar Bowl Pavilion in historic Brandywine Park and the ever popular Rockford Park. Each site hosts nine concerts a piece, free to the community, on Monday and Wednesday evenings from June through August. Performances span across music genres from jazz to salsa and hip hop. Concessions from Delaware’s top rated food trucks and local breweries are available for purchase.The goal of the LIVE! In the Parks Summer Concert Series is to provide a safe, fun, accessible, high quality, family-friendly entertainment experience within the Wilmington Parks. The Friends of Wilmington Parks, Inc. mission is the sensitive restoration of parkland and historic structures of the Wilmington State Parks. The Friends are dedicated to the revitalization of Wilmington’s urban enclaves and have successfully created partnership paradigms with the state and local park agencies to fundraise for affordable and accessible education, recreational and cultural programs. The Wilmington State Parks encompass five urban parks along the Brandywine River: Alapocas Run State Park, Brandywine Park, H. Fletcher Brown Park, Kentmere Parkway, and Rockford Park.

To learn more visit: https://www.friendsofwilmingtonparks.org/event/summerconcerts/

Two actors in Jack and the Beanstalk

Rehoboth Summer Children’s Theatre
Jack and the Beanstalk
Statewide
General Operating Support

The Rehoboth Summer Children’s Theatre was founded in 1982 by Elise and Steve Seyfried. The company began with this husband-and-wife team writing, producing and performing two-actor versions of classic fairytale. Before long theatre workshops for children were added to the schedule. Now, in 2023, the group conducts six weeks of film and theatre camps for ages 8-14, as well as a 30 performance outreach tour. The mission of RSCT is to produce theatrical productions of enrichment, education and entertainment for family members of all ages.Jack and the Beanstalk is a two-person, forty-five minute production designed for audiences of all ages. Two actors bring all the characters to life in a show featuring fast-paced action, a lively sense of humor and a whirlwind of costume changes. Each summer RSCT works closely with libraries and other community organizations to provide access to free performances of live, professional in virtually every corner of Kent and Sussex Counties.

In 2023 Jack and the Beanstalk will travel to 22 different communities in Delaware and Maryland for 30 performances. By the time the tour is finished, we estimate that attendance will total over 1,300 children and adults. Evaluation forms from completed shows have received the highest marks possible. Typical comments include: “The performance was amazing! So funny and entertaining for all ages.” Selbyville Library; “Everyone had a wonderful time – jokes for young and old. We are always impressed with your shows.” Bridgeville Library.

To learn more visit: http://www.rehobothchildrenstheatre.org

Rehoboth Art League Annual Art Show

Rehoboth Art League
50th Annual Outdoor Fine Art & Fine Craft Show
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
General Operating Support

The Rehoboth Art League’s signature summer event, the Outdoor Show, celebrates its 50th year in 2023. More than 130 artists and artisans from around the country display and sell their fine art and fine crafts amidst the Rehoboth Art League’s 3.5+ acre wooded campus, just blocks from the busy downtown Rehoboth Avenue in coastal Delaware. The annual Outdoor Show is a juried event yielding exceptional work, and attendees enjoy watching artists actively demonstrating their techniques and discussing the creative process. Known for its annual events that draw discerning local collectors as well as those vacationing from the Baltimore/Washington, DC, area as well as Philadelphia and New York City, the Rehoboth Art League’s summer event attracts professional, practicing artists ready to show and sell their work.
What began fifty years ago as a forty-artist event, with people displaying work on snow fence set up around our 3.5+ acre property, is now a noted mid-Atlantic event, attracting nearly 200 artist applicants annually. Many participating artists credit the development of their artistic trajectory through their participation in the Outdoor Show as it connected them to both long-term clients as well as a vast artistic community. In recognition of the event’s anniversary year, they are recognizing artists who have participated for more than ten years–and some more than twenty years–in the Outdoor Show. The event sees growth annually, and in 2022 attracted more than 8,000 attendees.

Based in their historic setting and working in partnership with other organizations throughout the region, the Rehoboth Art League leads in sponsoring art exhibitions, education and other programs that inspire all community members to embrace the lifelong value of art. We envision a diverse community that values all art and artists; a place where everyone can engage in the appreciation and creation of art as well as celebrate the multi-cultural history of our region.

To learn more visit: https://www.rehobothartleague.org/events/2023-outdoor-show/

The projects above are supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes these and other Delaware arts events on DelawareScene.com.

The Division offers a variety of grant programs for individual artists; nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations chartered and based in Delaware; and schools and government entities that support arts activities. View a full list of Division grants on the Grants Overview page.