The Uptown Music Collective put $20,000 into its coffers recently with "gifts" that are symbolic of what the musical enrichment and educational program has been about.
The gifts were earned.
Uptown received a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts after the organization called seeking to offer grants for underserved areas.
The grant resulted from an application put together by the collective in three weeks.
That money was matched through a fundraising drive in November and money through the Woodcock Foundation for the Appreciation of the Arts.
In our view, this money is a case of excellence being rewarded.
Since its founding several years ago, the Uptown Music Collective has been a local success story on multiple levels.
It's been a home for kids seeking to scratch their itch to create music.
It's been a music learning center for them.
And the entertainment products developed by the collective whether playing at events or performing an anthology have become a community treasure.
The $20,000 will be used to build a small project recording studio for students. Funds will be used to support the Accelerated Music Mentoring Program.
And they will be used for general education programs through curriculum development, smart-board technology and the creation of an ear training lab.
While the area is home to several well-run school music programs, many of them are limited by the very nature of public school funding for music, which can be tight by necessity.
The Uptown Music Collective has been offering that special music place outside school that can provide another level of music education to hundreds of kids in the area.
The collective is clearly a unique asset for a community this size.
We salute the organization for its recent funding success and trust it will only improve an already stellar program.
