The Carbon County Creative Arts Fund presented grants recently for community events.

The fund is a field of interest fund of the Carbon County Community Foundation, established with an initial gift from Palmerton resident Kathy Lendvay Fallow.

“I believe in the power of the arts to bring people together,” says Fallow, who has pledged to help advocate for and grow the fund.

The goal is to create a permanent endowed fund that will serve the Carbon County region, year after year, for generations to come.

In addition to many other donors who have given so far, area residents Robert Jacobs and Janet Salek helped champion the cause over the past year through personal commitment, volunteering to organize arts-related fundraisers, and advise this initial round of grants.

Events held to launch the fund in 2018 included a focus group convened in March to discuss community needs related to the arts, a private house party in May to raise funds and showcase some local artists, and “Art with a View,” a public exhibit, sale and charity auction at Blue Mountain Ski Resort in October.

The end result has been hundreds of people engaged with the arts in Carbon County and more than $13,000 raised to invest here in the region.

To celebrate the success of their first year, the Arts Fund committee reached out to patrons of the fund in November to ask for nominations for a favorite local arts organization to receive a $500 grant. The committee met in December and the following were chosen:

• Zion Opera Workshop for annual community theater events in Lehighton

• Summer Concert in the Park series in Palmerton, sponsored by the Concourse Club

• Jim Thorpe Area High School Chamber Singers for equipment to support their free public performances.

• Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit for their Talent Show, which allows students with special needs to showcase their creativity onstage at the Mauch Chunk Opera House

The Creative Arts Fund is guided by the following vision: “​We envision a community in which people of all ages and backgrounds experience the arts. We want Carbon County to be a place where artists are encouraged to hone and share their talents, where traditional and new forms of expression are welcome, and where opportunities for community members to engage with the arts are promoted throughout their lifetimes.”

For more information on the fund, including instructions on how to give, see cccfoundpa.org/carbon-county-arts-fund.

Interested parties may also join the Facebook Group “Carbon County Creative Arts” to be kept up-to-date on the latest happenings related to the fund.