Minneapolis foundation gives $950K to Yale theater

Posted at 9:20 AM on July 20, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Funding, Theater

Yale Repertory Theater announced on Monday that it had received a $950,000 gift from the Robina Foundation, a Minnesota-based nonprofit group. The gift will go toward supporting the Yale Center for New Theater.

In a community where we often hear the names McKnight, Jerome and Bush bandied about when it comes to philanthropy and the arts, Robina may come as a relative unknown. And there's a reason for that. The foundation, created by James H. Binger, was set up to support just four institutions: Abbott Northwestern Hospital, The Council on Foreign Relations, University of Minnesota Law School, and Yale University.

However folks close to the funding world will readily recognize the Binger name. James H. Binger married Virginia McKnight, the daughter of William and Maude McKnight, of the McKnight Foundation. Several Binger family members currently serve on the McKnight Foundation board.

SPCO receives $1 million from Mellon Foundation

Posted at 2:45 PM on July 20, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Funding, Music

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is giving the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra a four-year, $1 million grant to support artistic and digital media initiatives.

According to a release from the SPCO, the grant will "provide creative capital for artistic development, including projects such as major commissions, an annual composer in residence, and collaborations with artists and institutions outside the realm of classical music."

The grant also funds the hiring of artistic advisors and producers who will work to support the development of multi-media activities, humanities projects, and other new programming. To that end the SPCO has engaged Ara Guzelimian, Provost and Dean of The Juilliard School and former Senior Director and Artistic Advisor at Carnegie Hall, as Senior Advisor for this work.

In addition, the grant will fund the creation of a staff position responsible for producing digital content and funding mobile applications.