Mahoosuc Arts awarded grants

BETHEL — The Mahoosuc Arts Council has been awarded two $3,000 grants from the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) through the New England States Touring Program to support performances in the 2012-13 Gould and Telstar performing arts series.

One grant was awarded for an innovative, cross-sector collaboration between arts and agriculture in the form of a spring 2013 theater residency at Crescent Park Elementary based on the critical role of honey bees in the global food supply.

The program will encompass participation of Telstar middle and high students and the Gould agriculture program, and local farms which raise bees. Ultimately, the result will feature an original musical performance of "To Bee or Not to Bee," by CPS students, and the construction of a bee perimeter around the Telstar gardens which will support the honey bee population and benefit the school gardens.

The other award will support presentations of Burlington Taiko for a public performance at the Gould Academy and in-school assemblies for the K-12 students of SAD#44 on October 23 and 24.

This breathtaking group represents the most elemental and ancient of Japan’s musical forms and cultural traditions and will be bringing the largest of all Taiko drums with them, the Odaiko, for performances requiring athletic endurance as well as musical skill.

The 2012-2013 Gould and Telstar Performing Series feature the following performances throughout the season, with the elementary series noted below:

October 19 - In the Blood: Live multi-media documentary and exhibit on Maine’s rich logging history

October 24 - Burlington Taiko Drummers

January 29-30, 2013 - In the Blood: Live multi-media documentary and exhibit on Maine’s rich logging history.

April 2-3, 2013 - Syncopation: Modern-day Manhattan Transfer a capella Jazz Quartet

Elementary Series

October 23 - Burlington Taiko Drummers

January 23, 2013 - Hip Hop Hand Book: Urban Dance

March 29, 2013 - "Too Bee or Not Too Bee" Arts & Agriculture Theater Residency presented by the Piti Theater

All performances are open at no charge to district homeschool and charter school students as well as students in special educational facilities.

If you have any special requirements for accessing this programming, such as hearing or sight impairment or physical disability, please contact the council to discuss options for accessibility.

These series are also supported in part by the Gould Academy, MSAD#44, The Bethel Rotary Club, The Maine Arts Commission, the Franklin Savings Bank, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, Bethel Area businesses and private donors.

For more information, contact www.mahoosucarts.org, info@mahoosucarts.org or 824-3575.