Johnston County Arts Council has awarded ten local organizations a total of $19,492 in Grassroots Grant money.  The Grassroots Arts Program is a partnership between the Johnston County Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency.  Annual per capita funding for the Grassroots Arts Program is appropriated by the North Carolina state legislature to enrich the cultural life of the state by nurturing and supporting the arts and providing opportunities for every resident to experience the arts in their community.

The 2011-2012 Grassroots recipients and their projects are:

• Johnston County Chorale- contracted musician support for 2 public concerts
• Benson Little Theatre -costs of the theatrical production – Cinderella
• Neuse Little Theatre - five performances; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Crucible, The Dixie Swim Club, Dial M for Murder, and The Curious Savage
• The Family Life Center-  Kwanzaa celebration and a Latino Fest- learning about the principles of Kwanzaa and Spanish culture
• Princeton Veteran’s Committee-  celebration of Veterans with multicultural bands and new design by a landscape artist
• First Missionary Baptist Church in Smithfield - program by the Shaw University Choir in celebration of Black History Month
• Clayton Visual Arts - Millstock Arts Faire
• The Tobacco Farm Life Museum - “Stepping into the Past: Saturday Event Series” with their grant funds
• The Boys and Girls Club of Johnston County, Selma Unit -“The Feel and Field of Music”, a program focused on the appreciation of the Arts
• The Ava Gardner Museum  - new exhibits for the museum with their portion of Grassroots funding