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Starved Rock Foundation marks 10 years of supporting local arts

Foundation has awarded $96K in arts grants, $3M in total support across Starved Rock Country

Bob Philip, left, Forrest Boes, Cheyanne Kreush and Monica Archie from the October 2023 production of The Ark at Streator’s Engle Lane Theatre.

Bob Philip, left, Forrest Boes, Cheyanne Kreush and Monica Archie from the October 2023 production of The Ark at Streator’s Engle Lane Theatre. (Photo provided by SRCCF)

By Maribeth M. Wilson

The Starved Rock Country Community Foundation is celebrating a decade of devotion to the arts.

SRCCF has continued to create opportunities for artists and arts organizations across La Salle, Bureau and Putnam counties. SRCCF’s component fund, the Arts of Starved Rock Country, is the primary driver of this, according to a SRCCF news release.

ASRC, funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council, awards grants twice a year to local theatre groups, symphony orchestras, museums, libraries and schools. The fund, currently administered by René Parks Wendinger, has awarded over $96,000 since its founding in 2018, the news release said.

A sampling of projects supported by ASRC have included a program to expose children to orchestral music, support for local productions of “Chicago,” “Newsies,” “Falsettos” and “Something Rotten,” among others, financial assistance for Poco a Poco’s weeklong summer music festival in Streator, and Princeton’s Summer Concert Series featuring Brushville and others in 2023, the news release said.

SRCCF and ASRC organized the grassroots, three-day art, music and film “Festival of the Arts” in downtown Ottawa featuring a juried art show, a juried film festival, and musical acts in the early 2020s.

ASRC and SRCCF also sponsored OmniHonors to celebrate leading local artists and organizations.

“The grants and events we’ve hosted reflect our devotion to the local arts community,” SRCCF President Fran Brolley said in a news release.

SRCCF has created charitable funds for downtown mural projects, the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra, Ottawa Center for the Arts and other arts-related organizations, the news release said.

SRCCF has distributed more than $3 million in grants, scholarships and disaster relief, manages over $3 million in assets, and has established 130 funds.

Along with its work in the arts, it supports local food pantries, senior services, mental health initiatives, schools and economic development.

To contribute to SRCCF’s 10th anniversary “Decade of Giving,” visit https://srccf.org/anniversary-appeal.

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Maribeth M. Wilson

Maribeth M. Wilson has been a reporter with Shaw Media for two years, one of those as news editor at the Morris Herald-News. She became a part of the NewsTribune staff in 2023.