On Friday, June 7, Akron Community Foundation’s board of directors approved more than $1.46 million in grants, including 238 grants totaling $1,019,165 from designated, donor-advised, agency endowment and scholarship funds, and 30 arts and culture grants totaling $443,500 from discretionary, or board-directed, funds.

The Akron Area Arts Alliance (AAAA) invites the public to nominate deserving ARTISTS for the 2013 Arts Alive! Awards Celebration, honoring outstanding achievement in dance, music, theatre and the visual arts. 

Awards are also given for outstanding leadership and generous support of our arts and culture community.  This gala event will be held Sunday, November 3 at Summit Artspace.

Arts award categories include: Outstanding Visual Artist, Outstanding Artist in Music, Outstanding Artist in Dance, Outstanding Artist in Theatre, Arts Volunteer, Arts Patron, Arts Outreach, Arts Business Support, Arts Educator, Rising Young Star-Artist, Rising Young Star-Leadership and Collaborative Projects.  Candidates from Summit, Portage and Medina Counties are eligible.

The West Hill Neighborhood Organization (WHNO) and Akron Digital Media Center (ADMC) announce a free outdoor movie night Sept. 15 in the historic Glendale Cemetery near downtown Akron.

The moonless evening will include a showing of the black & white classic "It Happened One Night," starring former Akronite Clark Cable, cartoon shorts and audience storytelling. Visitors are welcome to bring their own low chairs, blankets, flashlights (for a safe walk back to their cars) and picnic baskets. Popcorn, snacks and soft drinks will also be available for purchase from WHNO.

Parking will be available outside the main gate on Glendale Avenue and at January Paint & Wallpaper, 394 West Exchange St. Gates will open at 6:30 p.m. and trollies provided by the city of Akron will run on a loop between the main gate and the meadow.

The inaugural Global Village Festival of Greater Akron will be held on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012, from 11:00 a.m. - 8 p.m. at Lock 3 Park in downtown Akron. Admission is FREE.

This event is a celebration of international and ethnic diversity in our community. This event will highlight the dynamics of the cultural diversity in our modern urban environment, and is designed to enable distinctive cultural expressions – including performances, exhibitions, international cuisine and much more.

Plastic covered the room. Two rows of seats were placed neatly in front of a slanted platform of a painted Poland map, while crates and chairs formed a car seating arrangement on top of the platform.

The lights dimmed at the Balch Street Theatre on June 23 as a cast of six, dressed in modern day rags, paraded out in front of the small audience to present the play, "A Couple of Poor, Polish-Speaking Romanians" by Poland's Dorota Maslowska.

The play was a New World Performance Laboratory Studio 2 production and presented by the Center for Applied Theatre and Active Culture. It would be surprising if you haven't heard of these names, especially since NWPL has been a part of Akron for twenty years.

Gospel Meets Symphony returns to The University of Akron’s EJ Thomas hall for its 19th annual performance on Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. For one night only, the Akron Symphony’s 200-voice Gospel Meets Symphony Choir fuses with the full Akron Symphony Orchestra to perform gospel and classical music.

Gospel Meets Symphony is considered Akron’s premiere collaborative concert, bringing the greater Akron community together for an evening of inspiration and celebration under the direction of the Akron Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director and Conductor Maestro Christopher Wilkins. Gospel Meets Symphony also features appearances by special guests The LeGrair Brothers. Chorus Master Jennifer Mekel Jones will lead the choir.

“Gospel is all about good news. Symphony brings musical genius to life. Each can stand alone, but it's pure magic to see them come together,” said Jones. “This year we will tell the stories and breathe new perspective into old tradition. It's all about a promise, and I assure you won’t be able to stay in your seat.”