EVANSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES FIRST RECIPIENTS OF NEW COMMUNITY CATALYST GRANTS Evanston150's Market for All Seasons and Evanston Dance Ensemble Awarded $2,500 Grants

EVANSTON, Ill.--Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) announced today the inception of  the Community Catalyst grants, which will invest in new opportunities to make Evanston stronger.  The Community Catalyst grants are small, discretionary grants that enable ECF a new way to not only respond to needs in the community as they arise, but advance strategic initiatives throughout the year. The two inaugural Community Catalyst grants support projects that originated with the Evanston150 initiative, in which ECF has been integrally involved.  The grants of $2,500 are being made to the Market for All Seasons project, one of the top 10 Evanston150 ideas, and Evanston Dance Ensemble's On Site: Putting Dance on the Map series, which was conceived during Evanston150's Celebrate!2013 planning sessions as a way of commemorating the City of Evanston's sesquicentennial.

Marybeth Schroeder, vice president for programs at ECF said, “With these Community Catalyst grants, we are able to serve more of Evanston throughout the year.  We are especially pleased to celebrate Evanston's 150th anniversary by advancing one of the 10 ideas, as well as by engaging the arts community through this innovative collaboration among dance companies.”

The Market for All Seasons project is working toward establishing a year-round indoor/outdoor community market. This market will connect our community with local farmers and food artisans, strengthening our local economy through job creation and will serve as a vibrant community gathering place.  Having successfully piloted two winter seasons, Market for All Seasons will use this $2,500 grant to advance its long-term sustainability.

“With the Foundation's investment, we will collaborate with Design Evanston to generate design ideas for the indoor/outdoor market so that we can have more booths for farmers and artisan food vendors as well as non profit organizations,” said project leader Dennis Clarkson. “We want our new community market to be a seven day a week operation with restaurants, butcher shop, fish monger, and other specialty food vendors. This grant is the start of something great for A Market for All Seasons."

The On Site: Putting Dance on the Map series is a collaborative effort by the community's professional dance companies, curated by the Evanston Dance Ensemble (EDE).  This artistic collaboration is representative of the numerous arts ideas submitted during the Evanston150 visioning process that resulted in 2,200 ideas for Evanston's future. The series features free dance events in public locations all over downtown Evanston. On the first Sunday of October and November, up to five different ensembles per program will perform dances created especially to highlight a specific performance location in downtown Evanston. Support of new ventures in the arts complements the City of Evanston and Downtown Evanston's efforts to advance the vision for a vibrant arts scene in downtown Evanston.  EvanstARTs, a community engagement process to develop a cultural arts roadmap for Evanston, has been a strategic initiative of ECF's for the past year. 

“As we commemorate Evanston’s sesquicentennial, the Catalyst Grant will allow EDE to bring eight dance companies together on two Sundays in the fall to create a moveable feast of dance throughout our beautiful city. We are all grateful to be part of an arts rich community like Evanston, and we want to express our gratitude to the Evanston Community Foundation for recognizing the important role that all arts play in any vital community,” said Béa Rashid, co-artistic director of the Evanston Dance Ensemble.

The 2013 Community Catalyst Grants are made possible through Evanston Community Foundation's Friends of the Arts, Green Communities, and Mary Laflin Rockwell Funds, as well as through Northwestern Dance Marathon’s partnership with ECF.

THE EVANSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, celebrating its 26th anniversary in 2013 with assets of $17.5 million, helps Evanston thrive now and forever as a vibrant, inclusive, and just community. It builds, connects, and distributes resources and knowledge through local organizations for the common good. The Foundation builds endowments for current and future opportunities, fosters private philanthropy, focuses the impact of collective giving, finds solutions to community challenges, allocates grants, and provides leadership training.  For more information about the Evanston Community Foundation, visit www.evanstonforever.org.