2023 Grant Awards
BCM Grant Acknowledgments
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The Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation
Date Awarded: December 11th, 2023
Award Amount: $5,000
Description The Birthplace of Country Music, Inc. (BCM) was awarded $5,000 in grant funding to continue to support and enhance the production and distribution of Radio Bristol’s Farm & Fun Time program, a musical variety program that introduces and familiarizes listeners with contemporary Appalachian culture and music through a variety of segments including storytelling, regional farms visits and live music. BCM used this funding to purchase a new digital cinema camera body and lens that will serve to enhance the overall production value of the program.
The Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation was established in 1996 by Christian Frederick Martin IV to serve the charitable interests of the Martin Guitar Company. The Foundation’s core principles are to support Martin Guitar’s engagement with nonprofit music, arts, education, and environmental action organizations. The Foundation does not fund political or religious organizations or activity. The Trustees manage the Foundation’s assets conservatively to allow for long-term planning and seek best value from Foundation grant-making for the people and causes that their grantees serve.
Additional Information
Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation
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Virginia Tourism Corporation – Microbusiness Marketing Leverage Program
Date Awarded: November 1st, 2023
Award Amount: $5,000
Description: Grant funding from the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Microbusiness Marketing Leverage Program will enable BCM to develop promotional material for our museum, which acts as an educational, cultural, and tourism resource through its permanent and temporary exhibits; educational tours and outreach programs; curricula-based lesson plans and learning resources; free and low-cost public programming; promotion of our region’s rich history and musical heritage; and the preservation of historic artifacts and images. In particular, this grant funding will serve to promote the final three months of the museum’s special exhibit, “I’ve Endured: Women in Old-Time Music,” along with our upcoming special exhibit, “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music.” This grant will help BCM promote other seasonal events, including our Speaker Sessions and Storytelling Events. It will also support our capture of high-quality museum photography to be used as promotional assets and in tourism advertisements.
Additional Information:
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Mooneyhan Family Foundation
Date Awarded: November 1st, 2023
Award Amount: $5,440
Description: This generous funding by the Mooneyhan Family Foundation was provided in support of our Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program. JAM is a low-cost program for children in grades 4-8 which introduces music thorough small group instruction. Music is taught utilizing instruments common to the Appalachian region, such as fiddle, banjo, and guitar. This grant from the Moneyhan Family Foundation directly contributes to our ability to fund instructors, student scholarships, and instrument maintenance costs required to keep this program open, accessible, and affordable to everyone in the community.
Additional Information:
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Virginia Commission for the Arts, General Operating Support Award 2023-24
Date Awarded: July 14th, 2023
Award Amount: $78,600
Description This general operating support funding was granted by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. The Birthplace of Country Music’s yearly programming and services includes preserving and promoting the region’s music heritage and its impact and legacy; educating audiences through engaging learning experiences; providing resources and opportunities for our local and regional communities; advocating on arts impact; reaching new and underserved audiences; developing partnerships with other organizations; and creating economic benefit for Bristol. This generous funding from Virginia Commission for the Arts is important and will assist and enable BCM to more fully focus on fulfilling our mission, in turn allowing us to continue to deliver and bring significant opportunities and resources to our community and to assist in providing a lasting economic impact.
Additional Information:
Virginia Commission for the Arts
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Alpha Metallurgical Resources
Date Awarded: July 12th, 2023
Award Amount: $500
Description: This general operating support funding was granted by Alpha Metallurgical Resources in support of our museum programming. The Birthplace of Country Music’s yearly programming and services includes preserving and promoting the region’s music heritage and its impact and legacy; educating audiences through engaging learning experiences; providing resources and opportunities for our local and regional communities; advocating on arts impact; reaching new and underserved audiences; developing partnerships with other organizations; and creating economic benefit for Bristol. This generous funding from Alpha Metallurgical Resources is important and will assist and enable BCM to more fully focus on fulfilling our museum programs.
Additional Information:
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Sullivan County, Tennessee
Date Awarded: July 2023
Award Amount: $10,000
Description General operating support in the amount of $10,000 was received from the Sullivan County, Tennessee for the 2023-2024 FY.
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Walmart Community Grant Program – Bristol, Virginia Walmart Store #2089
Date Awarded: July 4th, 2023
Award Amount: $1,000
Description This funding assisted in supporting the 2023 Summer Educator Fellowship Project at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum which brought three Southwest Virginia and Northeast TN K-12 teachers to the museum for paid summer fellowships. Fellows worked with the museum staff to 1) assess effectiveness, offer revisions, and create new museum lesson plans on a variety of topics related to our museum’s content, local and regional history and tied into state standards and classroom needs 2) assist in delivery of two teacher in-service workshops in July 2023 3) plan additional education resources, including inquiry-based learning activities, standards-based exhibit tours 4) assess educational newsletter improvements and 5) develop advocacy materials and outreach opportunities for local educational community. This fellowship has will help BCM to build more robust and effective systems of communication and advocacy with the school systems, become more visible as a learning resource, enable us to create meaningful relationships with educators, and provide engaging resources and opportunities for students. The museum will provide a stipend of $2,000 per educator. A Virginia Humanities grant of $3,784 has provided partial funding for this project, covering logistical costs and half ($1,000) of the stipends for two fellows. Bristol, Virginia Walmart store #2089 has generously supported $1,000 to cover the other half of the Virginia teacher’s stipend.
Additional Information:
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Arts Project Support, Tennessee Arts Commission
Date Awarded: June 1st, 2023
Award Amount: $9,200
Description Support from the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Arts Project Support grant program will be used to support artist’s fees for the 22nd annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots
Reunion music festival (BRRR) planned for September 8th – 10th, 2023. Funds will be used for artists who will be performing on stages located in Bristol, Tennessee. BCM is grateful for this generous continued support from the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Additional Information:
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The Rea Charitable Trust, Wells Fargo
Date Awarded: May 5th, 2023
Award Amount: $5,000
Description The Rea Charitable Trust generously granted $5,000 to the Birthplace of Country Music, Inc. in support of organizational operating expenses of the organization, which will continue to make a tangible difference to our work as we strive to enable our staff to better direct expertise, time, and resources towards fulfilling the our mission and delivering high-impact educational opportunities, meaningful programming, and engaging experiences to our community and visitors. The Rea Charitable Trust was created in 2009 with its primary purpose being the promotion of the arts.
Additional Information:
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Special Events & Festivals Program, Virginia Tourism Corporation
Date Awarded: April 12th, 2023
Award Amount: $20,000
Description Grant funding from the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Special Events & Festivals Program will enable BCM to implement a successful marketing strategy for promoting the upcoming 22nd annual Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion festival, to be held September 8th-10th, 2023 in downtown Bristol, TN/VA. The marketing strategy for the 2023 Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion is to engage past attendees, attract new patrons, and continue to promote the festival as a premier music experience unlike most festivals in its genre.
In addition, BCM targets music-interest consumers as potential visitors to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum and to the Festival, hoping to engage them directly with programs they may already have an interest in. BCM utilizes traditional and non-traditional advertising to promote Bristol Rhythm. Print ads are published in publications such as American Rhythm and several news outlets, as well as digital billboards throughout the region and broadcast commercials on local networks. BCM will continue to increase digital marketing efforts by placing banner and display ads, paid search, social media ads, and targeted emails. New this year, BCM will partner with regional music venues to promote the festival to music enthusiasts in the area. Partnerships will include flier distribution, advertising, social media cross-promotion and street team participation. BCM also produces rack cards, fliers, merchandise, posters and a festival app.
Additional Information:
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Marketing Leverage Program, Virginia Tourism Corporation
Date Awarded: April 12th, 2023
Award Amount: $14,000
Description: Grant funding from the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Marketing Leverage Program will enable BCM to develop the “Where Country Music Began” marketing campaign to support programming and events at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. This plan will also highlight additional exciting things visitors can do to make the most of their time in Bristol. The “Where Country Music Began” campaign is a continuation of Birthplace of Country Music’s marketing program to promote the 1927 Bristol Sessions and the history that was made in Bristol. The program will include digital advertising, print advertising, brochure distribution, visitor guide and a tourism showcase. This marketing campaign will encourage visitors to visit the Birthplace of Country Music Museum (BCMM) while a special exhibit is available and during a week that Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time is occurring at The Paramount Bristol. This plan will also highlight additional exciting things visitors can do to make the most of their time here in Bristol. Within this year, the BCMM will showcase a new special exhibit from March until December 2023: “I’ve Endured; Women in Old-Time Music” which highlights the many women who have been integral to this music, exploring the challenges they’ve faced making a career in the field, the ways they have impacted the genre, and their vision for the future of old-time.
Additional Information:
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Wayne Henderson Music Scholarships and Grants 2023
Date Awarded: April 12th, 2023
Award Amount: $1,000
Description This funding was awarded to support the Birthplace of Country Music Museum’s 2023 Pick Along Summer Camp program which will take place this June-July. One of the most tangible ways we deliver music and museum education is through our Pick Along Summer Camps, which are held at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum and are now going into their 7th year. We plan to offer two camp sessions in June 2023 aimed at beginner and intermediate musicians aged 8—16. Campers – who come from all over the local area from Marion, Virginia, to Johnson City, Tennessee, and even as far away as other states – learn how to play music and about Appalachian traditions from experienced musicians, teachers, and special instructors.
Additional Information:
Wayne C. Henderson Scholarships and Grants
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City of Bristol, Virginia, FY23 General Operating Support
Date Awarded: Spring 2023
Award Amount: $150,000
Description The City of Bristol, Virginia has supported the Birthplace of Country Music, Inc. for 2023 general operating support. With the economic impact that BCM is able to provide to the entire region, this funding will continue to allow BCM to pursue our mission and continue to provide positive impact to our community and region. The mission of the Birthplace of Country Music is to perpetuate, promote, and celebrate Bristol’s rich musical heritage; to educate and engage audiences worldwide regarding the history, impact and legacy of the 1927 Bristol Sessions; and to create recognition, opportunities, and economic benefit for our local and regional communities.
Additional Information:
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City of Bristol, Tennessee, FY23 General Operating Support
Date Awarded: Spring 2023
Award Amount: $20,000
Description The City of Bristol, Tennessee has supported the Birthplace of Country Music, Inc. for 2023 general operating support. With the economic impact that BCM is able to provide to the entire region, this funding will continue to allow BCM to pursue our mission and continue to provide positive impact to our community and region. The mission of the Birthplace of Country Music is to perpetuate, promote, and celebrate Bristol’s rich musical heritage; to educate and engage audiences worldwide regarding the history, impact and legacy of the 1927 Bristol Sessions; and to create recognition, opportunities, and economic benefit for our local and regional communities.
Additional Information:
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Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, Southern Virginia Program
Date Awarded: January 2023
Award Amount: $500,000
Description Birthplace of Country Music Museum Expansion. This project will support construction costs associated with the expansion of the BCM Museum (BCMM). In 2015 BCM completed the purchase of the building adjacent to the Museum. This building, now referred to as the Annex, will allow BCMM to greatly increase the size of the overall property to 41,000 SF. The new space will allow for the expansion and improvement of the areas used to house both core and special exhibits as well as creating an area to stage and house special exhibits when not on display. Archival space, a recording and radio production area, activity space, education space, and additional offices are among the other areas that will be created or improved as a result of the expansion.
Additional Information:
Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission
1/5/23 TOBACCO REGION REVITALIZATION COMMISSION MEETS IN RICHMOND
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IBMA Foundation, Project Grants
Date Awarded: January 27th, 2023
Award Amount: $2,000
Description The IBMA Foundation has awarded the Birthplace of Country Music Museum a $2,000 grant award from the IBMA’s Project Grant program to be used in supporting phase 4 of the women in old-time music special museum exhibit planning, which will be on display March -December 2023 at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. The exhibit will feature several female musicians in the genre, past and present, and explore their impact and achievements, challenges they’ve faced, their role in keeping the old-time music tradition alive, and the ways that they are innovating and pushing musical boundaries. Phase 4 of the four phase exhibit planning process involves assisting in supporting additional costs of the exhibit’s production including design and fabrication costs.
Foundation’s logo use is provided by the IBMA Foundation
Additional Information:
