2016 -- H 8117

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LC005790

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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J O I N T   R E S O L U T I O N

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION OF $250,000 FOR THE TRINITY REPERTORY

COMPANY PROJECT DISCOVERY PROGRAM

     Introduced By: Representatives Blazejewski, Hull, Slater, Diaz, and Ajello

     Date Introduced: April 28, 2016

     Referred To: House Finance

     WHEREAS, To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Project Discovery and hearkening to

the roots of the program, Trinity Repertory Company, the State Theater of Rhode Island,

proposes to pilot the Grade 11 Project; and

     WHEREAS, The Grade 11 Project will provide every 11th grade student in the State of

Rhode Island with a free Project Discovery performance of a planned production of a

Shakespearian classic in February/ March 2017; and

     WHEREAS, This bold initiative, which would build on the state’s position as an arts and

culture epicenter, is one that only a state the size of Rhode Island could successfully achieve. The

educational, workforce development and economic impact of this initiative will be noticed

nationally and in the lives of the thousands of Rhode Island students served; and

     WHEREAS, In the first years of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), established

with legislation written by Senator Claiborne Pell, the NEA selected three theaters nationally to

pilot a major arts education and outreach initiative. Trinity Repertory was one of the theaters

selected in 1966, launching the pioneering Project Discovery Program. Project Discovery has

now served more than 1.3 million students and its success has led to replication at hundreds of

theaters across the country; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not

otherwise appropriated for the fiscal year 2016-2017, the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand

dollars ($250,000) to the Trinity Repertory Company to implement the Project Discovery

Program; and the state controller is hereby authorized and directed to draw his orders upon the

general treasurer for the payment of said sum, upon receipt of properly authenticated vouchers.

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LC005790

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