Britt receives $300,000 grant for bench seating replacement and expansion

Britt Music & Arts Festival has recently received a grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust of Vancouver, Washington, for Britt’s reserved seating replacement and expansion project. These funds will be used to replace deteriorating 30-year-old benches with newer hardwood benches designed to last for 40 years, while also expanding the current number of seats to total 981, providing safer walkways, improving sight-lines, and installing safety lighting. Work on the seating project is scheduled to begin September 20, 2017 and be completed by June 1, 2018.

 The grant initially provides $100,000 in outright funds, with a $200,000 challenge grant contingent upon a 1:1 match. To receive the matching funds, Britt is offering a Seat Sponsorship Program that invites supporters and businesses in the community to sponsor one or more seats with inscribed plaques that will be attached to seat backrests for a full decade.  There are five price-points to choose from, making sponsorship affordable to everyone. Sponsorships are available from $250 to $1,500.

 The total cost of the project is estimated at $1.2 million. Britt has a total of $933,100 committed including the $200,000 challenge grant.  That means Britt needs to raise approximately $250,000 within the next few months. Britt encourages members of the community to participate in this fundraising project, which will improve the Britt Pavilion for future generations.  People and businesses interested in sponsoring a seat may download a Sponsor Commitment form at brittfest.org/seat_sponsorship, fill it out and submit the form via email, fax, mail or at the Medford office at 216 W. Main St., Medford, Oregon.

 About Britt Music & Arts Festival

Inspired by its intimate and scenic hillside venue, Britt Music & Arts Festival provides diverse live performances, an incomparable classical festival and dynamic education programs that create a sense of discovery and community. Since its grassroots beginnings in 1963, the non-profit organization has grown from a two-week chamber music festival to a summer-long series of concerts in a variety of genres, including a three-week orchestra season, and year-round education and engagement programs. For more information, visit www.brittfest.org.

 About M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust

M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, created by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, provides grants to nonprofit organizations in five states of the Pacific Northwest—Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington—that seek to strengthen the region’s educational, social, spiritual, and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways. murdocktrust.org