The Southeastern Connecticut Cultural Coalition is pleased to announce that $33,500 has been awarded to seven recipients throughout its nineteen-town region in Southeastern, CT. The Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA), developed the Regional Initiative Grant program (REGI) in partnership with its nine Designated Regional Service Organizations. These regional partners make up an effective statewide service network of which Southeastern Connecticut Cultural Coalition is a member. The pilot REGI grant program was designed for grant seekers interested in the creation of small cultural projects that expand equitable access to the creative process and/or creative experiences, especially projects that experiment with new ways to apply the arts within its community.

The FY2016 REGI grant awardees in our region include:

Amy Hannum, New London
Ice Carnival IV

Connecticut College, New London and Waterford
Howard Fishman Quartet Residency

Connecticut Landmarks/Hempsted Houses, New London
Freedom, Courage, Justice: Using Stories to Spark Connections across Time

Hope Sheldon/Fields Memorial School PTO, Bozrah
Community Placemaking Mural

Kia Baird, New London and surrounding towns
Girls In Jazz: Spring Break Camp

Norwich Creates, Norwich
Ellis Ruley Project, Visual Art Installations in Downtown Vacant Storefronts, and Community Calendar for the Arts

New London Community Orchestra, New London
Public Library Free Violin Lessons

For statewide grant awards, click here.

Southeastern Connecticut Cultural Coalition Executive Director, Wendy Bury, said, “The REGI program provides the opportunity for regional direction of state funds to support arts and cultural projects that are unique to southeastern CT. With the recent establishment of the Coalition, Southeastern CT is not only represented, but also able to participate alongside our eight peers across the state in important programs like REGI.”

Stated Kristina Newman-Scott, the Connecticut Office of the Art’s Director of Culture, “It’s essential that we work with our outstanding regional partners to experiment with and learn new ways to more equitably deliver funding throughout the many municipalities and myriad villages that frame our state’s landscape. While these REGI projects represent a relatively small investment, drawn from a combination of our state funds and National Endowment for the Arts federal grant, they can have a very positive impact on the state’s wealth of small, grass roots cultural organizations and impressive artists and creative workers. We think these neighborhood projects will add immensely to the rich, cultural life of our communities.”

Our Grant Panelists: 

Theresa Broach is a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University and has experience in non-profit board support, project and diversity management, and community theatre production.

Theresa is currently Board Secretary of the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut. Theresa is a board member of the Southeastern Connecticult Cultural Coalition. She is Vice President and Artistic Director for the Emerson Theater Collaborative. For over 10 years, she has held the positions of Vice President and General Manager of The Writer’s Block InK, an organization that encourages youth to use writing and performance as tools to address personal and social change on the community stage. She is the Director of the Miss Lottie’s Jazz Café series at the Norwich Arts Center.

Theresa is a retiree of Pfizer Global Research & Development, where she held several administrative and human resources positions. For over twenty years, Theresa has passionately supported local community theatre, including the Pfizer Players, Stonington Players, The Footlighters, Groton Reperatory Theater, Intentional Theater, Norwich Arts Center, Stage Door Theater Company, The Chancel Players, LS Centerstage Productions.

She has served as President of the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity of Southeastern Connecticut, served on the board of the North Stonington Education Foundation,. She has also been a member of the North Stonington Lions and a volunteer reader at CRIS Radio, a service for the blind and visually impaired. Theresa has been the drama coach for after-school programs in North Stonington and Norwich Public Schools.

Robin Harris is the Community Development Specialist at Eastern Savings Bank in Downtown Norwich. She has served in a few different capacities at ESB in the past nine years including BSA/Compliance Officer, Retirement Plans Coordinator, Assistant Branch Manager and Retail Sales Administrator.

Robin has a long history of volunteer community involvement in the Norwich community. She serves as an officer of the Integrated Charter Day School, a school committed to integrating arts into their community learning based curriculum.   The Otis Library functions as a cultural and community center for the city of Norwich, Robin currently serves as Treasurer of the Library. She is a member of the Southeastern CT Cultural Coalition, the region’s DRSO dedicated to connect and collaborate with our artistic, cultural and historical assets. Robin is a member of the newly formed Norwich Creates Arts collaborative, a group dedicated to utilizing the arts and cultural assets to provide positive economic impact for the City of Norwich. She has also served as a Director to the Society of Founders, a cultural group with Norwich historic assets such as the Leffingwell House Museum.

Robin Harris has been an ardent advocate for local culture/arts/industry for as long as she can remember.  Her daily life includes the desire for discovering, and the passionate promotion of, the hidden gems around eastern Connecticut. She shares these experiences with her two sons who are developing a similar appreciation for the region. Robin was a recipient of the 2014 Southeastern CT 40 under 40 awards.

Rich Martin is the owner of The Telegraph and also the Managing Director of Hygienic Art.  He first started working with the organization more than twenty years ago when he was asked to develop a print publication for the annual show based on his experience as the founder and publisher at the independent art and poetry imprint Hozomeen Press (which published more than 40 books and journals in the 1990’s out of Mystic, CT). He has since chaired the ever-evolving and expanding Salon des Independents, served on the Board of Directors, and lead the development of the programming structure for the Hygienic Galleries and the outdoor performance venue called The Art Park. Rich is the organizer of the New London Music Festival.

Govind Menon is a retired scientist from Pfizer, with extensive experience in pharmaceutical research and development and in strategic planning.  Since retirement, Govind has followed his deep passion for teaching and education.  He teaches and mentors students in New London High School and at the University of Connecticut at Avery Point.  Govind served on the Board of Directors of Writer’s Block Ink for many years and he currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut.  In 2014, Govind was named the Eastern CT Volunteer of the Year for his work with students in the New London area.

Roger J. Tremblay is a freelance artist and technologist with over 35 years of combined experience in fine art oil painting, computational art, computer engineering and sonar research. He studied fine art painting and drawing through programs at Connecticut College, the Lyme Academy of Fine Art, the Mystic Art Association, the Lyme Art Association, and private instruction from accomplished professional artists, and he holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Washington. For his most recent works, he conceives, designs and runs mathematical algorithms on computers to create original Computational Art in the form of graceful, organic imagery and animating color patterns derived from patterns of computed numbers. These are manifested on large digital display walls, video projections or as fine art prints. His traditional oil paintings and computational art have been exhibited in juried shows at various galleries in Connecticut.

He is a Connecticut Office of the Arts Teaching Artist and gives workshops, lectures and classes on Integrated Art, Technology and Math and has long been a strong advocate for the integration of the Arts with the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) educational curriculum, re-acronyming that to STEAM.

Keith Turner is a mortgage loan representative for McCue Mortgage in southeastern Connecticut, based in New London. He is a member of the Rotary Club and the Young Professionals of Eastern Connecticut, a group affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut. Keith is a member and patron of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and a firm believer in the economic and quality-of-life values the arts bring to southeastern Connecticut. Keith is a board member of the Southeastern CT Cultural Coalition.