BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) and Elliot Street Café invite individuals, businesses, and nonprofits to apply for funding for art projects through the next B.E.A.N. Micro-Grant Dinner, which will be held at BMAC on Sunday, April 14, at 6 p.m.
Anyone may submit a request. The only criteria are that the proposed project must “contribute to the vitality of art and artists in our community and benefit from a small grant of just a few hundred dollars.”
For only $12, anyone may enjoy dinner and live music at the museum and help decide which projects should receive the proceeds from the event. The greater the number of guests, the more money there will be to fund the selected projects. Dinner reservations are not necessary; pay at the door. Elliot Street Café will prepare dinner for 50; first come, first served.
According to BMAC Exhibitions Manager Margaret Shipman, B.E.A.N. (Brattleboro Essential Arts Network) Micro-Grant Dinners “are fun gatherings that provide artists and others with financial support and encourage collaborative decision-making around local art projects.”
BMAC and the Elliot Street Café have hosted eight such dinners over the past two and a half years.
“We've given away around $4,000 so far,” Shipman said, “and that's not including the special B.E.A.N. dinner we held to raise funds for artists impacted by Tropical Storm Irene, which brought in $8,000 on its own.”
Previous B.E.A.N. micro-grant recipients have included individual artists and teachers, alumni of the New England Youth Theatre, the Estey Organ Museum, and In-Sight Photography Project.