Piper Trust Announces $1 Million in Community Relief Grants for Maricopa County Arts and Culture Organizations

PHOENIX (November 13, 2009)—The trustees of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust announced today a $1 million fund for arts and culture organizations strapped by the effects of the economy.

“Economic distress has hit our anchor institutions as well as smaller community organizations,” said Judy Jolley Mohraz, Ph.D., Piper Trust CEO and president. “The drop in support for arts and culture threatens to undermine the community fabric of support for arts education for children, cultural opportunities for families and creative experiences of all types for residents and visitors.”

Thirty-seven visual and performing arts and culture organizations, all grantees that have won competitive Piper grants in the past, will receive one-time unrestricted grants. (See the list of recipient organizations that follows.)

“Arts and culture nourish the economic vitality of the community and help sustain our reputation nationally,” said Mohraz. “We hope this effort will encourage others to dig deep and support financially nonprofit organizations that are so vital to Maricopa County.”

A year ago, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust committed $1 million in Community Relief Grants to aid Maricopa County nonprofits providing direct emergency assistance to the community.

List of Grantee Arts and Culture Organizations

Actors Theatre

Childsplay

The Phoenix Symphony

Arizona Jewish Theatre Company

Desert Botanical Garden

Phoenix Theatre

Arizona Museum for Youth

East Valley Children’s Theater

Phoenix Zoo

Arizona Musicfest

Fountain Hills Community Theater

Red Rocks Music Festival

Arizona Opera

Heard Museum

Rosie’s House

Arizona Science Center

iTheater Collaborative

Scottsdale Cultural Council

Arizona Theatre Company

Liberty Wildlife

Southwest Community Players/Greasepaint

Audubon Arizona

Mesa Arts Center Foundation

Sonoran Desert Choral

Ballet Arizona

Southwest Shakespeare

Bead Museum

Phoenix Art Museum

Theater Works

Black Theatre Troupe

Phoenix Boys Choir

Valley Youth Theatre

Chandler Cultural Council

Phoenix Chorale

West Valley Fine Arts

Children’s Museum

Phoenix Conservatory of Music

About Piper Trust
A private independent foundation, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust honors Virginia Galvin Piper’s philanthropic commitment to changing lives and strengthening community in Maricopa County (Arizona). By investing in nonprofits and encouraging strategic planning for the future, Piper Trust strives to make Maricopa County a stronger, more nurturing and vibrant community. The Trust is completing its 10th year in operation.

Piper Trust focuses on healthcare and medical research, children, older adults, arts and culture, education and religious organizations. For more information, visit www.pipertrust.org.

Since it began awarding grants in 2000, Piper Trust has invested more than $250 million in local nonprofits and programs. The Trust reported total grants paid of $23 million in fiscal year 2009 (ending March 31). Even with a drop in the Trust’s assets with the recession, Piper Trustees will hold grantmaking steady and approved grant allocations of $22 million both for fiscal years 2009-2010 and 2010-1011.