This year’s Alberta Arts Days events in Red Deer are hanging on a contest sponsored by The Keg that requires public voting.
The Red Deer Arts Council received $75,000 from the province in 2010 to host a bunch of art workshops, concerts and play viewings around town. This year, thanks in part to a change in government grant dispersion rules, Red Deer only got $5,000.
Lacking in provincial dollars, the Red Deer Arts Council is hoping to win $25,000 from The Keg’s Thanks a Million contest in order to hold some varied arts events around the city from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.
In honour of its 40th anniversary, The Keg Steakhouse & Bar is donating $1 million to communities that have contributed to the chain’s success. The Keg’s Thanks A Million campaign will donate 40 $25,000 grants to fund community-based projects or initiatives in Keg communities across Canada and in select U.S. states.
Since the public will help decide which projects will receive the funding, the Red Deer Arts Council is hoping Red Deer residents will take the time to vote online.
Finalists have been posted at www.kegsteakhouse.com/en/news/thanks-million/ and members of the public can vote for their favourite until Tuesday. Winners will be announced on June 29.
Some of the arts events the Red Deer Arts Council and its local partners are hoping to launch during the three days of Alberta Arts Days are: a multicultural arts showcase with artists from all disciplines, the showing of locally produced movies, hosting History Alive, in which local actors represent characters from the city’s past, holding artist workshops with middle and high school students, and giving 1,500 elementary students a chance to see a dramatic production.