FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Stacy P. Sherman
Marketing Specialist
Ph: (262) 472-5705
Email: ShermanS@uww.edu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/young.aud
Twitter: www.twitter.com/youngauditorium
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/young-auditorium
Website: www.uww.edu/youngauditorium
Date: June 11, 2015
Young Auditorium Awarded NEA Big Read Grant for 2015 Project
WHITEWATER – Young Auditorium was recently added as a grant recipient for the National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read community reading project. Seventy-five nonprofit
organizations will receive grants totaling more than $1 million to host a Big Read project between
September 2015 and June 2016. This is Young Auditorium’s seventh Big Read project, serving
community members in Rock, Walworth, and Jefferson counties.
A program of the NEA, The Big Read is designed to broaden the understanding of our world, our
communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Managed by Arts Midwest, this
initiative offers grants to support innovative community reading programs designed around a single
book. Each organization will develop unique programming that will provide their communities with the
opportunity to read, discuss, and celebrate one of 37 selections from U.S. and world literature.
Young Auditorium’s project will focus on integrating art and literature using the novel My Ántonia by
American novelist, Willa Cather for inspiration. Cather's book is revered as a classic novel of the
American immigrant experience. Early American life will be a central theme in all of Young
Auditorium’s Big Read events, and the project will include opportunities for all ages to participate in
activities taking place between November 2 and December 4, 2015. The official calendar of events
-moreand information on how to participate will be announced in the next several weeks. For more
information, visit www.neabigread.org and join the 2015 Big Read event on Young Auditorium’s
Facebook page to receive updates.
The NEA inaugurated The Big Read as a pilot project in 2006 with ten communities featuring four
books. The Big Read continues to expand to include more communities and additional books. To
date, more than 1,100 grants have been awarded to communities in the U.S. to host Big Read events
since the program's 2007 national launch.
The Young Auditorium serves as a presenting organization for the performing arts and as an
educational and cultural center enriching the lives of regional communities, offering a full season of
world-class performing arts presentations. To learn more, visit www.uww.edu/youngauditorium or
follow at www.Facebook.com/Young.Aud.
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