Eliza and Hugh Culverhouse Jr. have donated $107,643 to Embracing Our Differences, addressing the organization's public funding shortfall in the wake of the Sarasota County Commission's decision to eliminate funding for the exhibit, as well as Gov. Ron DeSantis' decision to veto all arts and culture grants last month. The Culverhouses' donations covers the entire amount of the county commission and state grants.

The Community Foundation of Sarasota County has awarded more than $1.7 million in scholarships to people in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties pursuing higher education through enrollment in colleges, universities, or technical and career training programs. Awards this year include nearly $790,000 to students under the age of 24 who are enrolling in post-secondary education immediately following high school; $213,000 to adults older than 24 who are going back to school, and an additional $738,000 awarded for renewable scholarships in both age groups to support ongoing pursuits of a degree or program. While the majority of scholarships are awarded in the first half of the year, the Community Foundation offers additional scholarship opportunities throughout the year. The next scholarship cycle for adults 24 years and older opens Aug. 15.

The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County recently announced the recipients of the  Sarasota Board of County Commissioners $2.1 million in grant funding for Tourist Development Cultural/Arts (TDC/A) grants for the 2024-2025 season. They are Architecture Sarasota, Art Center Sarasota, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota, Choral Artists of Sarasota, ensembleNEWSRQ, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation, Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasota Orchestra, Jazz Club of Sarasota, Key Chorale, La Musica di Asolo, Mote Marine Laboratory, Ringling College of Art and Design (for Englewood Art Center and Sarasota Art Museum), Rise Above Performing Arts, Sarasota Ballet, Sarasota Concert Association, Sarasota Contemporary Dance, Sarasota Film Festival, Sarasota Opera Association, Sarasota Performing Arts Center Foundation, Sarasota Pops Orchestra, The Circus Arts Conservatory, The Hermitage Artist Retreat, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Perlman Music Program Suncoast, The Players, Sarasota Cuban Ballet School, Venice Symphony, Urbanite Theatre, Venice Art Center, Venice Theatre and Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s board of directors recently approved more than $1.3 million in grant awards, including $785,000 in funding for the region’s cornerstone arts and cultural organizations.  They are are Asolo Repertory Theatre, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasota Ballet, Sarasota Orchestra, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota Opera, Venice Theatre, Circus Arts Conservatory, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, Embracing Our Differences, Hermitage Artist Retreat and Venice Symphony. Additional grants were approved by the Gulf Coast board to support vital community projects and causes, including $50,000 to Friends of the Legacy Trail; $150,000 to Sarasota Chamber of Commerce Foundation to continue support for CareerEdge Funders Collaborative; $209,979 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties for the third and final installment of Gulf Coast’s $1 million commitment to support the rebuilding of the Gene Matthews Club in North Port destroyed by Hurricane Ian; and $70,000 to the Education Foundation of Sarasota County for PLANit Sarasota, the local college access network, to support young adults with the resources to enroll in post-secondary education, and to launch an educational navigation program.

Art 4 Change announce it has received a $5,000 grant from Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

G.R.A.S.P. Inc. has received a $6,000 grant from the Bishop Parker Foundation Fund of the Manatee Community Foundation. The grant will enhance ongoing efforts to financially stabilize individuals transitioning out of incarceration or rehabilitation.

Bradenton nonprofit Healthy Teens, Inc. was recently awarded a $15,000 grant from Bank of America to support youth health outcomes in the Sarasota/Manatee area.

Tidewell Foundation recently received a grant of $5,050 from the Manatee Community Foundation to support Tidewell Hospice grief services in Manatee County. The grant will support art-related grief and bereavement programming for Tidewell Hospice, which provides 13 months of grief support services, free of charge, to family members of Tidewell patients after their loss.

The Bank of America Foundation has awarded a $40,000 grant to Forty Carrots Family Center for its Partners in Play groups, which focus on parenting education, a known factor to reduce the risk of abuse and neglect in families, combined with early learning.

Bank of America Client Foundation Builds Strong Foundations with $40,000 parenting education and early learning investment.

Teen Court of Sarasota was recently awarded $15,000 from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to support its Navigating a Second Chance program for Booker Middle School and Booker High School youth.

The Community Foundation of Sarasota County has awarded the University of South Florida Foundation a $7,500 grant to support USF researcher Lindsay Peterson's development of a disaster preparedness app to help older Floridians and their caregivers better prepare for hurricanes and other potential disasters.

The Hermitage Artist Retreat recently announced today that it has been awarded nearly a dozen grants totaling more than $238,000 that will support a variety of programs and initiatives, including residencies for Hermitage Fellows, arts education support, and program accessibility. Grants were awarded by the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Amphion Foundation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Sarasota County, The Exchange, Koski Family Foundation, Tourist Development Cultural/Arts Program, National Endowment for the Arts, and Plantation Community Foundation.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe recently received a $5,000 grant from the Masala Giving Circle. The contribution was designated for Stage of Discovery, WBTT’s free summer musical theatre intensive.

The Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation recently awarded a $444,869 grant to expand Resilient Retreat’s capabilities to provide free mental wellness services for the community. Specifically, Barancik Foundation support will underwrite programming and staffing costs that will initiate the First Responder Coalition, a new educational peer support network to help first responders build mental resilience; enhance the operation of Resilient Retreat’s Kind Line, a telephone service that provides encouragement and resources for those impacted by trauma; and augment the organization’s financial sustainability so it can hire its first-ever major gifts officer.

The Junior League of Sarasota has announced that applications for the 2024 grants and Done in a Day (DIAD) projects are now open. The initiatives are designed to support the community through direct funding and volunteer efforts. To apply, click here.