Livingstone College was given a $15,000 award to be the host for the National Endowment for the Arts (N.E.A.) Big Read in Rowan County. Livingstone college was among the 84 nonprofit making organizations, designated to receive an N.E.A. Big Read funding in support of community reading program, from September 2020 to June 2021. The N.E.A. Big Read is an art donation initiative in collaboration with Arts Midwest. Its main objective is to expand us by sharing a good book and increasing the understanding of the communities and the entire world.
The Big Reading of N.E.A. will focus on “The Big Smoke “of Adrian Matejka. The activities will occur between 2nd April and 7th May 2021. “Our script is a wonderful collection of poems that portrays Jack Johnson, the heavyweight champion, as a social sensation through a fictional lens,” said Dr. Da’Tarvia Parrish, a professor at Livingstone College and a program director as well. “I’m excited to reveal how this communal lesson will increase the complications of self-awareness and gain new perceptions. Poetry allows the existence of imagination, where often insights can be recreated and redefined,”
Livingstone College will host communal events with several community associates including; Hornets’ Nest Girl Scouts Troop 454, the Rowan Public Library, and the Families and Communities Together (F.A.C.T.)
Dr. Jimmy R. Jenkins Sr, Livingstone president, said, “For more than 140 years, Livingstone Institution has been providing leadership to the inclusive society. Our determination in the Big Read is additional for the college to serve best.” He continued to say, “We are grateful for our friends in Rowan County who have cooperated with us. We are also appreciative of N.E.A. for granting us the opportunity to recognize the significance of community and literacy.”
“During this period of social seclusion all over our nation, we have become more conscious of how the arts significantly unite us with others, and the comfort and joy they bring to our lives.” said the N.E.A. chairman, Mary Anne Carter. “Livingstone will offer a fun and thoughtful program, while reinforcing community bonds, through the N.E.A. Big Read.”
The N.E.A. Big Read provides various titles reflecting different perspectives, and voices, aimed at inspiring discussion and discovery. The central feature of the initiative is a donations platform managed by Arts Midwest, which supports vibrant community reading plans, whereby each program is designed around a particular N.E.A. Big Read collection.
The C.E.O. and president of Arts Midwest, Torrie Allen, said, “We are privileged to continue partnering with the National Donation for the Arts in support of this implausible program.” He also said, “For over14 years, the national effort has devoted in support of communities as they meet to talk about the ideas and stories that bind us together. We are mainly motivated by the projects and organizations committed to finding new, effective means of making those networks with their communities and are happy to sustain them during this difficult time. “The National Endowment for the Arts has sponsored over 1,600 NEA Big Read programs, donating over $22 million to organizations all over the country, since 2006.
Grantees have leveraged at least $50 million in local finance to sustain their N.E.A. Big Read agendas, for the past 13 years. Over 5.7 million people in the United States have joined an N.E.A. Big Read event, and about 91,000 volunteers have taken part in the local level. Besides, 39,000 communal organizations have collaborated to enhance N.E.A. Big Read accomplishments.
For more info about the N.E.A. Big Read, including podcasts, book, author information, videos, and visit, Arts.gov/neabigread.
