Construction Zone Awarded $10,000 WAB Grant

Citizens For Our Bridge has announced that the Wisconsin Arts Board (WAB) has awarded the Construction Zone a $10,000 grant for next year’s Songwriters’ Workshop, which is scheduled for June 6 – 12, 2010.

The Creative Communities Grant requires that Steel Bridge Songfest events support the creation and development of the arts at the local level.

“We’re thrilled that the WAB recognizes the value of our events and their impact on our community,” says pat mAcdonald, creative director of the Steel Bridge Songfest/Construction Zone. “The festival has become a real family event. This year everyone was dancing in the street from the songwriters to parents with babes in arms. And, it’s all about the bridge and Sturgeon Bay.”

The grant money is earmarked for the Construction Zone’s food and lodging expense, which was close to $19,000 in 2009. With lodging discounts, in-kind contributions, and the $9,500 WAB grant received for fiscal year 2009, that bill still cost Citizens for Our Bridge over $5,000 dollars. Accommodations this year included three recording studios, over 50 motel rooms, and seven days of meals for upwards of 60 people.

Forty-five new and returning musician/songwriters and almost a dozen sound engineers donate their time, talent, and skills to create the new music that debuts at the annual Steel Bridge Songfest adding upwards of $400,000 to the festival budget’s in-kind contributions.

“The abundance of entertainment and art that they create and give to the Steel Bridge is worth far more than the almost half a million dollar donation,” Eric Leyendecker, co-director of the festival, says. “They, in turn, gain as much or more from the experience. Many returning songwriters regard the retreat as a necessary part of their life work.”

The Construction Zone workshop consists of local songwriters, as well as songwriters throughout the Midwest as far away as Great Britain and New Zealand.