the "6 months to our 6th season" campaign is just one way that we broadened our network!
Our sponsors focus on supporting arts programs with strong community connections. The Dodge Foundation, a key supporter of the arts in New Jersey for nearly 40 years, has a focus on programs with an inclusive mission and an emphasis on the meaningful role that the arts can have in building community. Partners for Health Foundation aims to invest in programs that improve the quality of life in Essex and Passaic Counties. Similarly, BSTV and Investors Bank support community-minded organizations that contribute to civic life in the NJ communities they serve. And in August, we added Montclair Orthodontics to our esteemed list of supporters.
To cap this season’s campaign, DOTL also is a proud recipient of a Masterwork Foundation Community Grant Award. This New Jersey-based organization has been supporting excellence in the arts, particularly music, for more than fifty years and recently announced an expansion of their mission to include funding in all arts disciplines. To celebrate, the Foundation invited artists, arts lovers, and arts supporters to a “re-envisioning” event at the Morris Museum in Morristown, NJ in March, where DOTL’s 2019 Emerging Commissioned NJ Choreographer, Oluwadamilare (Dare) Ayorinde, shared a piece of his work-in-progress. Executive Director Todd Whitley again honored DOTL in June: “Recognizing community-based programming that supports excellence in the arts is what the Masterwork Foundation' s Community Grant Awards are all about. We're pleased to offer our top grant award to Dance on the Lawn, whose generosity and conviction to the arts we admire.”
AND...just before our big event on Saturday, September 7th, Dr. Barnes & Carter, Family Eye Care, Marc Berube, L&B Healthy Pet Markets, Jonathan DeCamp - DeCamp Bus Lines, Egan & Sons, Pub & Kitchen and Stuffed Grass-Fed Burgers joined our DOTL family!
Support from these organizations is an acknowledgement of DOTL’s dedication to enriching our shared communities. In each case, the funders recognized DOTL’s strength as a resource in supporting the local dance community and in making dance performance accessible to all. This recognition also shows how much DOTL has grown since the first festival in 2014. The hard work by DOTL’s many local supporters is raising awareness, helping to ensure DOTL’s presence as the place for dance in Montclair. For this, we’re particularly proud and grateful.