Idaho Community Foundation grants more than $14k through Bistline Foundation Fund

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (KIFI) - Arts-focused projects in southeast Idaho will receive more than $77,000 in grants from F.M. and Anne G. and Beverly B. Bistline Foundation Fund, which is held in the Idaho Community Foundation.

More than $14,000 will go to Bingham County organizations.

The Bistline Foundation Fund, which joined the Idaho Community Foundation in 2011, gives grants twice a year. Previously, it was a private foundation founded in 1999 by Pocatello philanthropist Beverly Bistline and named in honor of herself and her parents. Since joining ICF, it has given more than $1.8 million.

The Bingham County recipients are:

• Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Inc. – $3,000 to support the eastern portion of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s educational outreach programs, Idaho Theater for Youth and Shakespearience.
• Snake River School District #52 – $6,163 to upgrade the sound system in the auditorium.
• The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho – $5,000 to provide hands-on art lessons in elementary school classrooms in Shelley, Firth, Blackfoot and Fort Hall, and offset the cost of traveling to the art museum to schools coming for guided tours and art lessons.

“The Bistline grant will provide students with art curriculum and hands-on lessons in schools where the time devoted to art making is decreasing,” Art Museum of Eastern Idaho executive director Alexa Stanger said. “Art has been proven to increase the mental well-being of people of all ages. Those who participate in hands-on art project have expressed increased happiness, clear minds and positive thinking.”

Other recipients:

Bannock County

• Idaho State University Foundation – $8,000 to help the craft shop provide residents of southeast Idaho an accessible way to engage in the arts.
• Idaho State University Foundation – $3,975 to offer a week-long music instruction camp to pre-college pianists and string players.
• Musicians West, Inc. – $7,128 to cover concert fees for visiting pianists, masterclass honoraria, piano tuning, and medals and trophies for pre-college finalists in the Musicians West Piano Festival and Competition.
• Pocatello High School – $9,957 to restore the Steinway model D Grand piano that has been an historic part of Pocatello High School since the auditorium was built in the 1930s. “This Steinway is an historical fixture at our school that is used every day, whether it be in the choir classroom or concert auditorium,” Pocatello High School choir teacher Kerrie Tolman said. “It would be impossible for our school to purchase a new one. We are so grateful for the funding for this project.”
• Westside Players, Inc – $5,000 to pay the expenses for the production of the musical Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which is scheduled for summer 2024.

Bear Lake County

• Bear Lake High School – $3,410 to purchase costumes and upgrade audio and video equipment to produce student-created short films. “Creating these movies helps us practice writing, language, social and artistic skills,” Bear Lake High School special education teacher Dean Lake said. “Our entire high school student body looks forward to not only viewing these movies at the end of the school year, but they often participate in producing them.”
• Bear Lake School District No. 33 Education Foundation – $3,500 to enhance the theater production classes for the middle school and high school in the Bear Lake School District by improving the functionality of the theater space and providing set design and costume material.

Caribou County

• Grace Joint School District #148 – $4,150 to replace broken instruments in the music department.
• North Gem School District #149 Education Foundation, Inc. – $1,595 to provide a Shakespeare experience to rural students. “I feel it is so important for the students to experience all that life has to offer and especially in the arts,” North Gem Education Foundation Treasurer Rhonda Banks said. “Art has a way of touching every student and shows them how they can express their own artistic talents and views in a variety of ways. This educational opportunity will reach beyond the classroom and possibly ignite a passion for the theatre or expression of art, that the students may not even know they have. A beautiful opportunity for all.”

Oneida County

• Malad High School – $4,000 to purchase baritone horns and an oboe for use by Malad High School and middle school band students.
• Malad Valley Welsh Foundation – $2,000 toward the Malad Valley Welsh Festival. The Malad Valley was settled by Welsh pioneers beginning in the 1860s and held an annual festival that ended during WWI. Festival organizers revitalized it in 2005. “For many local people, the festival brings back memories of grandparents and great-grandparents and their stories of Wales,” festival chair Jean Thomas said. “For new people to Malad, the festival introduces them to the history of the area and the importance of Welsh culture to Malad Valley.”
• Oneida County Library – $5,000 to provide a Summer Reading Program “Art in the Park” all about puppetry.
• Oxford Peak Arts Council – $5,365 to put on a youth production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which will give kids in the community a chance to be involved in drama.