Recent Arts Everywhere Grants

Spring 2026 ArtsEverywhere Grants

South Bend Civic Theatre: $50,000
Funds will support South Bend Civic Theatre’s 2027 calendar year season of events and activities. In 2027, there will be a celebration of two anniversaries: 70 years as a theatre and 20 years in the historic Main Street home. The Civic plans to offer a “greatest hits” season that includes shows from their entire history. They have brought together a cohort of individuals from past eras to form a History Committee collecting memories and ideas to celebrate the Civic Theatre’s generational impact on the community. Simultaneous to the celebration will be expanded educational programming, deep neighborhood engagement, and bolstered equity efforts.

South Bend Museum of Art: $50,000
Funds will support South Bend Museum of Art’s 2026-2027 exhibition season. The 2026-27 Season features open-call, community, and curated exhibitions including Around the Bend 2026, the Scholastic Art Awards, and the biennial Conversation Series. SBMA will engage over 16,000 visitors and 2,700 students through artist talks, K-12 tours, First Friday receptions, and workshops.

South Bend Symphony Orchestra: $50,000
Funds will support South Bend Symphony Orchestra’s 2026-27 Season’s operational expenses for projects ranging from mainstage concerts series to robust education and community engagement programming. SBSO anticipates serving approximately 35,000 adults and children through its performances, education programs, and community engagement initiatives. This includes more than 20 mainstage concerts as well as over 70 free performances and events presented in schools, libraries, hospitals, museums, and community centers throughout the region.

Southold Dance Theater: $20,000
Funds will support Southold Dance Theater’s 2026-27 Season. Southold Dance Theater celebrated its 50th anniversary of incorporation in 2025 and is continuing the mission of enriching the lives of those who share in the dance experience by upgrading the largest studio for technical safety, replacing essential props to protect the dancers, guests, staff, and stage crew, enhancing the performances, sharing their story through a documentary (3 years of story-capturing), upgrading the living archive, and seeding a scholarship fund.

Fischoff National Chamber Music Association: $20,000
Funds will support The Fischoff National Chamber Music Association to offer free educational programs for students (elementary through 12th grade) onsite where they learn and play. Each fall, its award-winning alumni return to lead in-school workshops and performances across the tri-state region. Additionally, mid-career ensembles bring stories to life by transforming books into musical performances, fostering literacy, encouraging a love of reading, and inspiring young audiences. Competition ensembles serve as Peer Ambassadors introducing students to high-quality experiences.

South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestras, Inc.: $10,000
Funds will support South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestras 2026-28 Sectional Program. This program breaks students into orchestra groups, each of which goes to a separate classroom in the Education & Arts Building at IUSB. Flautists go into one classroom, cellists in another, etc. Each section works with a professional musician or music educator who plays their instrument, which allows coaches to get into greater detail with technical skills and artistry for the students’ particular orchestral part than the conductor can do in a full rehearsal.

The History Museum: $10,000
Funds will support 2026-27 Annual Exhibitions. In 2026, The History Museum is launching several changing exhibits that celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. Its main exhibit of the year, located in the Changing Gallery, is “First Peoples, First Settlers: Indiana’s Interwoven Roots” and explores life on the Indiana frontier during that time.

Downtown South Bend Foundation: $7,500
Funds will support Art Beat on August 15, 2026. Art Beat is a free event, which ensures strong artist participation, quality programming, and broad community access, and is the largest single-day festival in the South Bend-Elkhart region, drawing about 20,000 attendees annually. The event brings together hundreds of artists, performers, vendors, and nonprofit organizations in an accessible celebration. Art Beat is a critical income-generating opportunity for many artists, connecting them with thousands of attendees in a single day while driving foot traffic to nearby businesses.

Robinson Community Learning Center: $7,500
Funds will support Robinson Community Learning Center’s Robinson Shakespeare Company, to expand access to theater opportunities for underserved South Bend youth by adding additional genres of theater, bridging generations, expanding belonging, and growing collaboration with regional arts assets. This year’s theme will include a focus on the natural world and include visit to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater for a performance and backstage tour.

The Main Stage, Inc.: $7,500
Funds will support The Main Stage’s 2026-2027 Season. The Main Stage, Inc. places a direct focus on providing musical theater education to children over the age of five. Their current season includes Lion King Junior, and two additional student productions, Jungle Book Junior in July and A Christmas Story in December. To provide the seasoned young performers with new opportunities, bi-annually the show choir visits Disney World during fall break to participate in Disney’s Imagination Project performance workshops and perform on stage.

Musical Arts Indiana, Inc.: $3,500
Funds will support Musical Art’s Indiana’s 2026-27 Season. The 2026-27 Season will present individual and collaborative concerts using all four MAI ensembles as well as partnering with other community art organizations. MAI concerts feature traditional Western art masterpieces as well as contemporary music repertoire from underrepresented and historically marginalized groups, which helps to elevate narratives and traditions from outside Western art music. All concerts are open to the public and performed at accessible sites.

South Bend Chamber Singers: $3,500
Funds will support The South Bend Chamber Singers’ 2026-27 Season. The 2026-27 Season features four performances that highlight artistic excellence, collaboration, and community engagement. The season includes a newly commissioned choral work, a partnership with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, and a chamber program. Through these offerings, the ensemble brings diverse choral repertoire to regional audiences while supporting contemporary composers. Together, these programs foster meaningful artistic experiences for both performers and the community.

Studebaker National Museum: $3,500
Funds will support the 2026 Concours d ‘Elegance at Copshaholm. The Concours d ‘Elegance at Copshaholm has become the premier celebration of automotive design and styling in Indiana. This event combines the robust exhibitions and displays of the Museum Campus with automobiles from across the country and educational programming such as the Driven by Design racetrack experience, historical walking tours, and lectures from automotive historians. The event will also incorporate new partnerships with the Motor Podcast Network and Society of Automotive Historians to host a two-day forum and the 24 Hours of Lemons to host their Concours d ’Lemons in South Bend.

The Acting Ensemble: $3,500
Funds will support The Acting Ensemble’s 2026-27 Season. Acting Ensemble fills gaps in the existing theater environment, offering plays that are unlikely to be produced locally, providing a place for individuals interested in production of live theater to develop professionally, providing an opportunity to get involved by soliciting and staging locally written plays. Acting Ensemble annually produces at least thirty-two productions: Main Stage, Stage Readings, Poets and Playwrights, Senior Stories, Drag Shows, Michiana Songs and Stories, and other productions and events.

South Bend Heritage Foundation: $3,000
Funds will support the 2026-27 Season of the Colfax Gallery. The Colfax Gallery is an integral part of South Bend Hertitage’s mission, advancing community building through arts and culture and supporting a holistic approach to development and revitalization efforts. Located within the Near Northwest neighborhood, the Gallery expands access to the arts, making it accessible for all. The Colfax Gallery hosts six annual exhibitions: three with three local artists each, a middle school student shows, a juried art and social justice exhibit, and a partner show with a community arts group.

Merrimans’ Playhouse: $6,700
Funds will be used for ongoing development of student-focused programming, including a dedicated Student Jazz Open Session to commence January 2027, to focus on building future audiences and artists at the local level.

Downtown South Bend, Inc.: $5,000
Funds will help support Mural Mania, July 29 – August 2, 2026. Mural Mania is South Bend’s annual mural festival, transforming underutilized downtown walls into large-scale art that enhances walkability, attracts visitors, and supports nearby businesses. Since 2022, Mural Mania has added twenty-four murals across downtown, and in 2026, six new installations will build on this momentum, with a focus on strategically selected, high-impact sites. This year’s work advances a broader vision to build a connected public art network as part of the emerging Downtown South Bend Art & Light Corridor.

South Bend Venues Parks & Arts Foundation: $5,000
Funds will support Fusion Fest on September 26 and 27, 2026. Fusion Festival is a transformative cultural event that aims to unite the diverse community through immersive experiences and artistic expression. This festival is a platform for social cohesion, celebrating the diverse cultures that make up the region.

Trustees of Indiana University: $2,550
Funds will support IU South Bend’s 2026 Civil Rights Heritage Center Exhibitions. The Civil Rights Heritage Center showcases regular exhibitions of art and history in the historic 1922 Engman Public Natatorium. Past Exhibitions include Teresa Greve Wolf: Art that Reflects the Times, featuring civil rights oriented works from the Chilean-born and Grander based painter; The 27 Club, from South Bend artist Morgan Fleming on the intersections of creativity and mental health; and History | Culture | Imagination, exploring Latinx immigrant identity from South Bend’s Federico Rodriguez.

The History Museum: $150,000
Funds will help The History Museum upgrade the HVAC system at the historic Oliver Mansion (Copshaholm). The 130-year-old system will be replaced with modern, discreetly installed equipment that preserves the home’s historic fabric, making environmental conditions for staff, visitors, and artifacts possible. The HVAC upgrade is essential to ensure the continued preservation of the mansion for more than 50,000 annual visitors.

The Fischoff Chamber Music Association: $50,000
Funds will support The Fischoff Chamber Music Summer Intensive, a week-long summer music program for young musicians focused on chamber music playing in small ensembles that helps young musicians, entering sixth grade and above, immerse themselves in the genre of chamber music. Participants collaborate in small ensembles and work with world-class artist faculty to develop performance abilities and essential life skills like teamwork, communication, leadership, respect, and creative problem-solving. Fischoff plans to serve 25-30 students in 2026 and 35 students in summer 2027, with community showcase concerts that will be free and open to the public.

South Bend Civic Theatre: $8,000
Funds will support the Civic Theatre’s comprehensive facility capacity assessment in collaboration with Alliance Architecture to evaluate its current infrastructure and plan for future improvements. The project aims to analyze facility strengths and limitations, create a strategic capital improvement roadmap, and support the theatre’s mission of enriching the community through live theatre. The assessment will help the theatre serve approximately 15,000 patrons and 4,500 students annually by identifying repair needs and establishing long-term planning strategies.

Fall 2025 ArtsEverywhere Grants

South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestras: $93,200
Building on the success of past summer camps, funds will help support SBYSO’s three-year “Summer of Rock” Collaborative Project with Saint Mary’s College, The Music Village and Windborne Music. They are planning an initiative that will provide an unprecedented opportunity for young musicians in Michiana, backed with a sustainable model that can provide funding for future growth. Approximately sixty students will be served each year, 2026-2028, with room for growth after the initial year.

The Acting Ensemble: $43,000
Funds will help support The Acting Ensemble professionalize theater lighting for improved production value, audience experience, and mentorship of production staff. The project will comprehensively upgrade the space by removing the drop ceiling, replacing ductwork, installing a lighting grid, purchasing an LED light board, adding insulation and fire safety paint, building a lighting platform, and relocating the entry door. Key objectives include improving audience experience, enhancing production quality, providing technical skills development, and increasing overall theater safety and efficiency.

WNIT Channel 34: $15,000
Funds are intended for 2026 annual sponsorship funding in support of multiple programs WNIT airs supporting the arts in St. Joseph County. As a PBS station, they bring the highest-quality arts performances to local audiences to inspire and entertain as well as featuring local arts through weekly episodes of Experience Michiana and a strong line-up of local performances like Live from ND, Arts at IUSB series, local holiday performances, the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and more.

The Music Village: $10,000
Funds will support TMV’s 2026 programs, which include opportunities to learn about, experience, and participate in music and dance programming. TMV’s offerings include music lessons, dance classes, group programs, jams, concerts, camps, after school programs, and more. The Music Village continues to expand programming. TMV currently has 240 students enrolled in private lessons and music classes. In 2026, TMV plans to launch their audio/video recording studio and recording arts classes.

Patchwork Dance Company: $3,500
Funds will support Patchwork Dance Company’s (PDC) 2026 season which includes two major concerts. PDC will produce a spring concert March 2026 and their holiday concert, “Greta’s Gift” December 2026, which has a cast of over 60 dancers. Every elementary school in St. Joseph County is invited to the holiday performances.

WVPE: $10,000
WVPE Public Radio is receiving support for The Sauce, a locally produced radio and podcast series hosted by Dawn Burns that amplifies diverse voices and fosters cultural connection through the arts. Produced in South Bend, the show features local and global artists through interviews, performances, and storytelling. The 2026 season includes 12 monthly broadcasts, 24 live venue recordings, and 52 weekly podcasts, sustaining creativity and access to the arts across St. Joseph County and beyond.

United Youth Theatre: $10,000
United Youth Theatre (UYT) is receiving funds to support its 2026 season, featuring five full-scale productions for K-12th grade performers, including James and the Giant Peach, Spongebob, Little Shop of Horrors, The Outsiders, and the first regional production of Six: Teen Edition. The organization aims to help kids develop confidence, creativity, and mutual respect through arts. UYT projects serving over 1,000 youth next season.

Wild Rose Moon: $10,000
Funds will help support Wild Rose Moon’s 2026 Programming, including Moon Rise, a creative ecosystem project focused on arts education and community development, set to culminate in a March 2026 show at the South Bend Civic Theatre. Wild Rose Moon broadcasts their performances on WVPE and WNIT, reaching 26,000 viewers and 72,000 listeners in the past year, featuring local performers and music/spoken word content.

IU South Bend: $5,000
Funds will be used to help support local community integration of the July 2026 Louise E. Addicott Summer Chamber Music Festival. The Festival will welcome world-class quartets and 24 students from across the country to a 10-day chamber music festival at IUSB. Participants will enjoy an immersive experience on campus and beyond: rehearsals and coachings, activities on and off campus, performances at IUSB and community spaces like the St. Joseph County Public Library, Howard Park, and the Civil Rights Heritage Center. The community will be able to enjoy many public events by renowned artists.

South Bend Lyric Opera: $10,000
Funds will help support a new part-time Executive Director position, which will allow SBLO’s visionary founder, Emanuel Caraman and SBLO’s dedicated Board of Directors, to receive the administrative leadership necessary to develop their ongoing contribution to local arts and culture. The new position will provide operational management, spearhead development initiatives, strategic leadership, and financial oversight necessary for SBLO to fulfill its mission.

Spring 2025 ArtsEverywhere Grants

South Bend Museum of Art: $50,000
Funds will support South Bend Museum of Art’s 2025–2026 gallery season, featuring exhibitions such as Scholastic Art Awards and Biennial 33. Through artist talks, school tours, and community events, SBMA will engage over 16,000 visitors and 1,000 students.

South Bend Symphony Orchestra: $50,000
Funds will be used for South Bend Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-2026 season. The orchestra will present over 20 concerts annually, including a Masterworks Series, Pops Series, and Young People’s Discovery Concerts. With a strong commitment to community engagement, the orchestra will offer 70+ free performances in schools, libraries, and hospitals, serving approximately 30,000 adults and children. The season emphasizes equity, diversity, and inclusion, featuring unique events like a Dia de los Muertos celebration and fostering local partnerships.

Southold Dance Theater: $20,000
Funds will support Southold Dance Theater’s (SDT) 2024-2025 season. SDT has a continued vision and goal to reach more people within the community than ever before by meeting them where they are; 50 acts for 50 years. SDT’s two largest performances, holiday tradition, The Nutcracker and Spring Ballet, Giselle, paired with a plethora of community outreach interactive events, a documentary with community premiere, and innovative collaborations provide opportunities to accomplish this meaningful goal.

Fischoff National Chamber Music Association: $20,000
Funds will support The Fischoff National Chamber Music Association’s free community outreach programs in 2025-2026 for children, youth, and mixed audiences, which are presented by Fischoff Competition alumni and local professional musicians. Each spring, competition ensembles serve as Peer Ambassadors for Chamber Music giving elementary students first-rate music experiences. Each fall, mid-career ensembles transform books into musical performances, encouraging literacy to our community’s most impressionable young audiences, promoting reading, and inspiring lives.

South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestras, Inc.: $10,000
Funds will be used for the 2025-2026 sectional program. Sectionals take place during the first hour of the weekly Concert and Symphony Orchestra rehearsals; instrument sections separate into different classrooms for targeted guidance and practice on their orchestral parts. Each sectional is led by a professional musician who plays that instrument. In addition to providing essential musical training and helping students to gain confidence, sectional coaches also serve as mentors who answer important questions about playing or practicing techniques.

The History Museum: $10,000
Funds will help support The History Museum’s 2025 Exhibitions. The exhibit “Rockne: Life and Legacy,” on view August 23, 2025 – May 31, 2026 and is a retrospective of the influence he had on Notre Dame, on college football, and on local history.

Robinson Community Learning Center: $7,500
Funds will be used for Robinson Shakespeare Company, 2025-2026. The Robinson Shakespeare Company offers year-long programs that reach 450 youth annually. Activities include drama integration instruction in schools, afterschool drama clubs, and a summer program, all of which engage a wide range of diverse participants, grades 3-12. Goals include increased educational outcomes for youth, increased capacity of teachers to integrate drama into academic curricula, and increased youth participation in theatre.

Downtown South Bend Foundation: $7,500
Funds will support Art Beat, taking place August 9, 2025. Art Beat is a free visual, performing, and culinary arts festival, taking place along the streets and sidewalks of downtown South Bend. It is the largest, single-day festival in the region and serves a broad, cross-section of the population. Art Beat encourages long-term growth of arts in the community by supporting the local art scene and lowering the barrier to exposure of the arts. Over 750 artists typically participate.

The Main Stage, Inc.: $7,500
Funds will assist with The Main Stage’s 2025-2026 Season. The Main Stage places a direct focus on providing musical theater education to children over age 5. The current season included Aladdin (March 2025). Upcoming events include a community program The Wizard of Oz (July 2025), a fall production of Bettle Juice, Jr., and 1-week immersive musical theater camp of Annie Jr. in July 2025 and other children’s programming throughout the school year.

Musical Arts Indiana, Inc.: $3,500
Funds will help support Musical Arts Indiana’s 2025-2026 season, which includes performances of Vesper Chorale, small ensembles from the Vesper Chorale Chamber Orchestra, and the Children’s Choir of Michiana. The MAI concerts feature traditional western arts masterpieces as well as contemporary music repertoire from under-represented and historically marginalized groups, which helps to elevate narratives and traditions from outside western art music.

South Bend Chamber Singers: $3,500
Funds will help support South Bend Chamber Singer’s 37th Concert Season of three distinct performances: the “Christmas at Loretto” concert; “We Are Phoenix,” a new work for choir and strings by American composer Tim Takach, performed with the Notre Dame Children’s Choir; and “Carmina Burana,” in collaboration with South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Notre Dame Glee Club, and Saint Mary’s College Belles Voix.

The Acting Ensemble: $3,500
Funds will help support The Acting Ensemble (AE)’s 2025-2026 programs, which include monthly Stage Readings, six Main Stage productions, bi-monthly Poets and Playwrights, Late-Night theater, Michiana Songs and Stories, youth classes in collaboration with Drama Spot, and special productions.

Studebaker National Museum: $3,500
Funds will help support the 2025 Concours d’Elegance at Copshaholm event, which has become the premier celebration of automotive design and styling in Indiana. This unique event combines robust exhibitions and displays of the Museum Campus with automobiles from across the country and educational programming such as Driven by Design racetrack experience, expanding historical walking tours, and lectures from automotive historians.

South Bend Heritage Foundation: $3,000
Funding will support South Bend Heritage Foundation’s 2025-2026 Exhibition Season at the Colfax Campus Gallery. The Gallery helps to provide a holistic approach to neighborhood stabilization and revitalization work. The Colfax Gallery is positioned to enhance the cultural and artistic education of those that may not have access to the arts, with 6 exhibitions hosted in the unique gallery spaces: 3 shows for local artists; Middle School Exhibition; juried exhibition on art and social justice; and community arts organization exhibition.

South Bend Civic Theatre: $10,000
Funding will help support the “Inside the OUTside: The Series” documentary delving deeper into inspiring stories of rehabilitation and reintegration. In 2019, five incarcerated men, each bearing the weight of their criminal past, came together to share their stories. This became “Heartless,” a poignant play presented at the Civic. Six years later, the men are free yet still striving to find a soft landing of acceptance. Each episode of the documentary will present opportunities to have conversations at the Civic, along with additional nonprofit partnerships and collaborations.

South Bend Venues Parks & Arts: $7,500
Funds will help support the South Bend Fusion Festival, which is a transformative cultural event to unite the diverse community through immersive experiences and artistic expression. The festival is a platform for social cohesion, celebrating the rich tapestry of cultures that make up this region. By fostering inclusivity and promoting local talent, VPA aims to inspire and excite the community, strengthening community bonds and creating lasting connections.

The Acting Ensemble: $5,500
Funds will support Senior Stories, a program that makes theater accessible to seniors who have historically been excluded from this experience while improving their mental wellbeing, social connectedness, and memory. Three cohorts of 6 to 8 seniors age 65 and over from area nursing homes/assisted living facilities will receive classes, followed by a Stage Reading of their stories. Seniors will use personal experience to craft a story from their lives and acquire practical acting skills such as voice, breath, movement, and interpretation.

Downtown South Bend Foundation: $5,000
Funds will help support 2025 Mural Mania, an annual mural festival that helps add lasting beauty and vibrancy to Downtown South Bend. Mural Mania increases vibrancy by creating unique arts-infused programming that attracts visitors downtown and brings customers to locally owned businesses. Over the past three years, Mural Mania has added 17 stunning murals to South Bend’s landscape, and DTSB plans to add an additional 5 murals this summer.

Merrimans’ Playhouse Inc.: $3,500
Funds will be used from July 2025 to June 2026 in support of the Home Grown Jazz Series, The Student Jazz Performance Series, The Jazz Open Session, and The Chamber Arts Series, to pay for musician fees, marketing and promotion, and operating costs.

Saint Mary’s College: $3,200
Funds will support Saint Mary’s College Department of Education and the Michiana Writers’ Center’s annual teen writing conference, known as “Get Inked” for students in grades 7-12. This conference provides an opportunity for teens to learn writing techniques from published and professional authors, improve academic and personal writing, learn about the editing and publishing process, and spend time with other teens who like to write. The 2026 conference will take place online and in-person at the college and provide space for 140 attendees. SMC works with all local school corporations and nonprofit organizations to ensure local participation.

Fall 2024