Bravo Greater Des Moines has awarded $412,475 in capital project grant investments to nine arts and culture nonprofits. Capital project grants provide funding to current Bravo cultural partners for capital projects that help organizations better deliver programming and services.

The projects that were awarded grants are:

• Ballet Des Moines: Completing the transformation of a large studio in its Lauridsen Campus for Arts and Education into a fully functional studio theater. Funding will go toward purchasing and installing theatrical lighting, curtains to cover windows and create a front-of-stage area, and a cyc and scrim to mask mirrors and enable projection.
• Big Creek Historical Society: Painting the exterior of the Big Creek Schoolhouse, a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Des Moines Community Playhouse: Updating the lighting and visual effects capabilities of its studio theater. The lighting system has not had significant upgrades since 1995.
• Hoyt Sherman Place Foundation: Installing new marquee signage outside the venue on the corner of 15th Street and Woodland Avenue.
• Japan America Society of Iowa: Constructing a weather-protective enclosure for the Yamamoto Tea House that follows traditional Japanese design. This will allow it to be placed in a more publicly accessible location and used for a variety of activities and events.
• Living History Farms: The funding will support Living History Farm’s Cultivating Our Future capital campaign, specifically going toward the installation of a new, modern, family restroom that will include an adult changing table in the new Cultivation Center.
• Mainframe Studios: Installing state-of-the-art exterior lighting around the premises of its colorful building and installing interior lighting in the atrium and three gallery spaces to showcase the art within.
• Varsity Cinema/Des Moines Film: Replacing the aging and deteriorating roofs on both the Varsity Cinema and its newly acquired adjacent building – Varsity Film Center + Lofts. These repairs will help transform the space into a dynamic hub for film education, artist residencies, affordable creative housing and year-round community programming.
• West Des Moines Historical Society: Supporting necessary repairs on the foundation of the Jordan House Museum, which has sustained damage from water infiltration, natural aging and the activity of burrowing animals. These issues pose a significant risk to the structural integrity of the 175-year-old property and its historic contents.