After submitting five grants to Erie Arts and Culture, Mercyhurst receives all five of them, totaling $10,200 to use towards various projects.

The five current projects which received the grants include: The Mercyhurst Institute for Arts and Culture, Dance, Opera, History, and Chemistry and Dance.

The competition was high for the Erie Arts and Culture grants, but Mercyhurst students and faculty managed to come out on top.

“It speaks to the quality of the projects and the grant writing by students and faculty,” Sheila Coon, director of external affairs and government relations said. Coon assists in grant writing.

Coon has also taught a class in grant writing, and some of the students involved in the Erie Arts and Culture grants had been in her class previously.

According to the Erie Arts and Culture website, grant proposals are rated based on artistic quality, community engagement and impact, and management. The five Mercyhurst proposals matched all of the criteria to the standards of the committee.

“The projects are clearly adding to the culture and vitality of the Erie Region,” Coon said.

The Mercyhurst Institute for Arts and Culture will be using the grant to fund the various productions of the season.

The History Department, including a group of students and Chris Magoc, Ph.D., submitted a grant in order to support the multifaceted project: You Are Here, We Are Here: An Illustrated Walking Tour of Erie’s Historic East Side.

Senior Public History major Taylor Rollins was one student involved in this history project. “You Are, Here We Are Here is a collaboration between the Sisters of St. Joseph and Mercyhurst University’s Public History Program and it’s basically highlighting the culture and the history of Erie’s east side, which often gets overlooked. The Mercyhurst Public History kids are doing a walking tour.”

While Rollins took photographs of buildings, other students went on interviews to learn the histories of the buildings and did write ups for the tour.

You Are Here, We Are Here was shown at the CONNECT Exhibit in the Erie Art Museum from October through January.

Mercyhurst dance director Tauna Hunter requested the grant in order to fund the upcoming dance productions of Beyond Words V and Raw Edges, which will be staged in the upcoming season.

A combination of the Dance and Chemistry Departments, National Water Dance: A Ripple Effect, a community awareness program, combines the beauty of dance and the realities of science.

Louisa Jonason, D’Angelo Opera Theatre director submitted a grant proposal in support of the production of The Magic Flute which will be performed in May of this year.