The Muncie community gathered downtown last Thursday for an evening of art, dance performances and music at the 12th annual ArtsWalk in honor of the city’s 150th anniversary.
The Muncie Downtown Development department, Muncie Arts and Culture Council and Ball State University's departments of Fine Art and Music partnered to run the annual event. Cheryl Crowder, director of events for Muncie Downtown Development, said grants from people around the community helped fund the event.
“Ball Brothers Foundation is a big contributor to us and Schaffer Foundation also helped to contribute. We work on sponsorships as well so the money comes from a little bit of everywhere,” Crowder said.
The Ball Brothers Foundation was established in 1926. According to program officer Jenna Wachtmann, BBF has a commitment to making downtown Muncie a thriving center of commerce and activity with attractive amenities – all possible through grant making.
In May 2015, BBF gave a 50-thousand dollar grant to Muncie Downtown Development.
“This grant was to help Muncie Downtown Development Partnership expand their community event series featuring Moonlight Movies, After Hours Arts Reels, and ArtsWalk," Wachtmann said. "The expansion of this series was in conjunction with the city of Muncie’s 150th Sesquicentennial."
According to their website, the Hamer D. and Phyllis C. Shafer Foundation helps support nonprofit organizations, who provide creative and innovative programs to improve the quality of life in their community.
“The Hamer D. and Phyllis Shafer Foundation has a broad area of interests and we have been focusing on downtown development. When we saw the good the organization [Muncie Downtown Development] was doing and the grant came in, we wanted to help,” Terry Walker, president of the foundation said.
Although the city of Muncie holds a monthly art gallery called “First Thursdays,” Crowder said the ArtsWalk is “First Thursdays on steroids.”
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