Here’s a February Valentine for you! Thanks so much for everything you do to create, support, and share bluegrass music with the world. A special thanks to those who have made recent donations to one of the many IBMA Foundation grant programs, scholarships, and other work to help make the future of bluegrass brighter for future generations. If you’re still looking for a way to get involved and help, here are some ideas:
$500 pays for a live, educational presentation of bluegrass music for students at a school through our Bluegrass in the Schools Mini-Grant program.
$500 pays for a Fletcher Bright Memorial Grant for Young Musicians (age 21 and younger), to help with the expense of lessons, camps, workshops, educational materials, or instrument repair. NOTE: Applications for Bluegrass in the Schools Mini-grants and Fletcher Bright grants have become extremely popular in the last two years, and we usually run out of budgeted funds before the end of the fiscal year. Please consider supporting one or both of these efforts.
$500- $1,000 pays for an individual Arnold Shultz Fund grant to help a person of color with educational expenses like lessons, workshops, camps, instrument repair, etc.
$1,000 honors the work of the scholar who presents the best academic paper on bluegrass music during the current year, with the Neil Rosenberg Bluegrass Scholar Award.
$1,000 sponsors either the annual gathering of bluegrass college educators or the Bluegrass College Info Session that spotlights bluegrass programs at colleges and universities, plus some live music from student bands, both at at World of Bluegrass in Raleigh.
$1,000 – $2,500 pays for one of our flagship IBMA Foundation project grants, supporting a bluegrass-related program or initiative in the areas of education, arts and culture, literary and academic events, and historic preservation. An article in this newsletter announces the 2024 project grant recipients.
$1,000 – $2,500 supports an Arnold Shultz Fund project grant to encourage participation in bluegrass music by people of color.
$1,000 – $2,500 supports a scholarship for a female bluegrass musician, bluegrass songwriter, an individual studying broadcasting or sound engineering, a musician studying the banjo on the college level, or a student majoring or minoring in a bluegrass-related field or performing in a bluegrass ensemble who is pursuing a professional bluegrass career.
$1,500 sponsors the annual Bluegrass College Educators Luncheon at World of Bluegrass in Raleigh.
$2,500 sponsors a reception for grant, scholarship, and award recipients for the year during World of Bluegrass in Raleigh.
Special Need: The Dick Barnhart bequest which supplied the funds to create the IBMA Foundation (formerly known as The Foundation for Bluegrass Music) back in 2007 has been depleted 17 years later, with the announcement of project grant recipients in 2024 that benefit children age 18 and younger. We’re considering a new name for this fund to help share bluegrass music with young people. Donations of any amount are welcome. If you are considering a name-level sponsorship of this fund, either for one year or as a permanent endowment, please contact Nancy Cardwell at info@bluegrassfoundation.org.
A gift of any amount is welcome for the programs listed above, or simply to be used “where needed most.” We’ll also be happy to speak with you about donations of stock, contributions to the IBMA Foundation’s permanent endowments, or your estate plans.
Return to the February 2024 issue of The Cornerstone.
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