TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. – The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) made its first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2017, which includes a grant of $10,000 to the City of Tarpon Springs. NEA Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $30 million in grants for fiscal year 2017.

The Art Works grant to the City of Tarpon Springs is for the Greek Community of Tarpon Springs Documentary and Related Programming. This is the seventh time in eight years that Tarpon Springs has received an NEA grant to support folk-life programs.

The Art Works category focuses on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.

“The arts are for all of us, and by supporting organizations such as the City of Tarpon Springs, the National Endowment for the Arts is providing more opportunities for the public to engage with the arts,” said Chu.

“Whether in a theater, a town square, a museum, or a hospital, the arts are everywhere and make our lives richer.”

The Tarpon Springs Center for Gulf Coast Folklife will work with local videography team Kostas Lekkas and Eleni Christopoulos-Lekkas to plan and begin filming a documentary about life in the distinctive Greek community.

This is the beginning of a multi-year project. When completed, the video will be available for public broadcast and for visitors in two city galleries.

Related programming will include Folklife Workshops to provide an opportunity for students to learn Greek bouzouki, and Night in the Islands – a series of music and social dance events similar to traditional Greek village celebrations.

Project Director Tina Bucuvalas said “we are honored to receive funding from the National Endowment for the Arts for this much-needed project.

Known primarily for sponge fishing and Epiphany, the breadth of the community’s rich traditional culture has not previously been captured by videographers from within the community.

The grant will also contribute to the continuation of two important programs that maintain and promote Greek culture in Tarpon Springs.”

More information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, is available at arts.gov/news.