Three Ames arts groups seek fall 2025 special-project funds as panel readies recommendations

Three local arts organizations asked an Ames grant panel on May 10 for extra money to cover artist fees, rising production costs and materials for a community fundraising event, while the panel set a schedule for member recommendations.

At a special-project grant hearing, representatives from Ames Town and Gown, Story Theater Company and the Ames Community Arts Council described planned fall 2025 events and explained why each needs additional support. The panel chair said members should submit individual recommendations to staff; the compiled list will be considered at a June 2 meeting.

The most specific request came from Ames Town and Gown, which is planning an opening concert on Sept. 26, 2025, with the Beijing Guitar Duo. Bill Dilla, representative of Ames Town and Gown, told the panel the duo is now U.S.-based and “have won multiple international competitions” and that programming will include Chinese arrangements alongside standard repertoire. Dilla said the organization discovered during contracting that the artists’ agent was asking for an additional $1,000 beyond the original budget and that Town and Gown was asking the panel to cover half of that $1,000. He said outreach to the public is planned either at the Ames Public Library or First United Methodist Church if the artists’ schedule allows; if not, the outreach would be targeted at middle or high school students.

The Story Theater Company representative said the nonprofit stages workshops and four major shows each year and is seeking additional funds for its fall production of Once Upon a Mattress to cover higher-than-expected costs for costumes, set materials and platforming. The presenter said the group’s summer production of Disney’s Descendants runs in June and that rising lumber and cloth prices had increased the production budget; the company asked for “a little bit more” than its original request but did not give a dollar figure to the panel.

Jen Rockweller, representing the Ames Community Arts Council, asked for support for the group’s Empty Bowls project, a nationally known fundraiser in which artists donate bowls for a soup supper that benefits local hunger-relief organizations. Rockweller said the council made about 150 bowls last year, used most of them and still has roughly 30–40 left; the council’s goal this year is to make another 150 bowls and hopes to reach as many as 200 if donations permit. Rockweller said the council plans bowl-making workshops and needs funding to cover materials so makers aren’t expected to purchase clay or supplies.

Panel staff told members they would circulate a spreadsheet for individual recommendations and that the funding pool available for these requests and any that arrive in spring 2026 is $9,562. The panel chair confirmed that whatever is not allocated now will be reserved for spring 2026 requests, and that Jeremy (staff) will compile member recommendations into a shared list for final consideration at the June meeting.

No formal grant awards were voted on at the May 10 hearing. Panel members were asked to return individual recommendations to staff ahead of the June meeting so the group can finalize awards then.

The applicants also shared other upcoming public programs: Rockweller and Jenny Brock Poehler announced a World Collage Day event at the Ames Public Library and an arts-awards celebration at Ryman Gardens; Bill Dilla noted a free outreach and a ticketed concert featuring violinist Kevin Zhu (student tickets free) with outreach targeted at youth violinists. These announcements were informational and not part of the grant decisions.

Next steps: staff will send a spreadsheet for members’ recommendations; compiled recommendations will be reviewed at the June 2 meeting, and any funds not allocated now will be reserved for spring 2026 requests.