The Lehigh Valley Arts Council made “ArtsCount with $39,711 in Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA) grants awarded to 26 area artists, musicians and arts nonprofits.

ArtsCOUNT 2017, run by the Lehigh Valley Arts Council, was held at the National Museum of Industrial History, Bethlehem.

“There are many stories about how the arts have made a difference in someone’s life,” said Lehigh Valley Arts Council executive director Randall Forte before he and grant coordinator Zach Kleemeyer passed out checks at the Oct. 18 event. Forte asked recipients to participate in the council’s “The Power of Story” advocacy project.

PPA is a state funding initiative of the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts (PCA) to provide financial support of arts activities for every county in the state. The latest round of funded projects are required to take place between Sept.1, 2017, and Aug. 31, 2018.

The following organizations and individuals received PPA arts grants:

• Allentown Public Theatre: $1,854 for performances of “The Ugly Duckling” and theater workshops for children held at St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Allentown, in 2018.

• Appalachian Fiddle & Bluegrass Association: $1,739 for the association’s 2018 Bluegrass Festival in Wind Gap.

• Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission: $1,470 for summer concert series at City Hall Sculpture Garden.

• Borough of Emmaus: $1,854 for 2018 summer concert series at Community Park and Triangle Park.

• Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, Allentown: $1,549 for monthly series of independent, art house and documentary LGBT films.

• Dancelink: $1,446 for performances of “The Body Keeps the Score: Dance with Drama and Recovery” at Charles A. Brown Ice House, Bethlehem, in 2018.

• Friends of the Allentown Parks: $1,470 for 2018 Cherry Blossom Festival at Cedar Creek Parkway.

• Jewish Community Center of the Lehigh Valley: $1,718 for author series in fall 2017.

• Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival: $1,610 for juried 2018 event at Mach Chunk Opera House.

• Kate Brandes: $611 for “Seams,” a paper quilt project at Nurture Nature Center, Easton, in 2018.

• Lehigh Gap Nature Center: $1,409 for ecological restoration video.

• Lehigh University: $1,718 for “Wynwood Walls,” parachute cloth mural showcase along Bethlehem’s South Side Greenway in 2018.

• Lehigh Valley Dance Exchange: $1,878 for 2018 “SpringUP” Dance Festival at Cedar Crest College, Allentown.

• Lehigh Valley Girls Rock: $1,611 for 2018 camp showcase at Zoellner Arts Center, Bethlehem.

• Memorial Library of Nazareth & Vicinity: $1,502 for folk music workshop and concert by Simple Gifts in 2018.

• Mikayla’s Voice: $1,425 for “Wheels of Friendship” visual arts project during PeepsFest 2017, SteelStacks, Bethlehem.

• Moravian College: $1,398 for 2017 concert of “Brahams Double Concerto” by Moravian College Community Orchestra with Pamela Frank and Peter Wiley.

• Nora Suggs, Two-Part Invention: $1,156 for flute and classical guitar concert series in 2018.

• Pioneer Band of Allentown: $862 for 2018 concerts at Meuser Park, Wilson Borough, and Northampton Senior Center.

• Puertorrican Culture Preservation: $1,758 for 2018 Puertorrican Festival and Parade at Jordon Park, Allentown.

• Saucon Valley Conservancy: $1,696 for 2018 Saucon Creek Arts Festival at Heller Homestead Park.

• Summit Hill Heritage Center: $1,518 for concert series and art classes.

• Ukrainian American Heritage Foundation: $1,632 for 2018 Ukrainian folk dance camp and workshop at Ukrainian Homestead, Lehighton.

• Valley Contra Dance Society: $974 for a gender-free workshop, potluck dinner and alternate-role evening dance at Unitarian Universalist Church, Bethlehem, in 2018.

• WDIY 88.1 FM: $2,070 for weekly production of “Lehigh Valley Arts Salon.”

• West Park Civic Association: $1,783 for 2018 West Park Cultural Renaissance in Allentown.

The Lehigh Valley Arts Council is the PCA regional partner in re-granting PPA state funds to recipients in Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties.

Information: lvartscouncil.org; 610-437-5915