Receiving its first-ever grant, Uptown! Knauer and Performing Arts Center is pleased to announce that it has been provided with grant from the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance for $1,950 for the 2017 Project Steam with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts as part of the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts. The grant will be applied to summer camp scholarships and community tickets.
I spoke with Angela Scully, executive director at Uptown!, who expressed why it is important to her and Uptown! that they received this grant to support underserved communities.
“We’re really honored for the PCA to have chosen us,” she said. “This grant sets the stage for future funding. We offer different scholarships for summer classes for these kids, and the grant helps with that. We love getting everyone involved in the theater.”
Therese Walden-Murphy from Uptown! originally founded these summer programs. Uptown! also works with the West Chester Area School District to provide scholarships for summer camp art students who would otherwise be unable to afford the experience.
The Community Ticket program, which the grant will also be supporting, will be administered through community partners like the YMCA, St. Agnes School, 
West Chester Area School District, and the Chester County Fund for Women & Girls.
Angela Scully, who has worked with Uptown! for going-on six years, has always enjoyed the energy and excitement surrounding the theater and is looking forward to the new opportunities that the grant will be able to fund. I asked her why the grant’s funding of theater programs is much appreciated.
“The arts are the soul of the community,” she said. “There’s really something for everyone in theater.”
The funding that is provided by the Philadelphia Culture Alliance Grant will also be facilitating the renovation of the 100-year-old building Uptown! resides in. For more information, visit http://uptownwestchester.org/ or call 610.356.2787.
