Friends of Music Vice President Piper Dankworth accepts a check on behalf of her organization from Gov. Jim Justice and his bulldog, Baby Blue, at the July 27 event in Caperton Transportation Center. Courtesy photo

MARTINSBURG — Two of Shepherdstown’s most active arts-based nonprofit organizations were named recipients of large grants, during a grant awards ceremony hosted by West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture & History (WVDACH) Curator Randall Reid-Smith at the Caperton Transportation Center on July 27.

MARTINSBURG — Two of Shepherdstown’s most active arts-based nonprofit organizations were named recipients of large grants, during a grant awards ceremony hosted by West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture & History (WVDACH) Curator Randall Reid-Smith at the Caperton Transportation Center on July 27.

The event kicked off with a welcome to Gov. Jim Justice, who was in attendance, by both Martinsburg Mayor Kevin Knowles and Reid-Smith.

According to Reid-Smith, what Justice has done for the arts could only be called “indescribable.” Having been the state’s commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Culture & History for the past 18 years, he has served a total of three governors since 2006.

“When he came in, we were upside down,” Reid-Smith said. “We had about $640,000 a year for the arts through the state. With everything this year in the new budget, with his help and from legislators, we’re over one-point-one-million dollars from the state this year.”

Reid-Smith said for every dollar of federal funds received, it returns by $11. For every dollar of state funding, it returns by $21.

“We have over 14,000 employed because of the arts,” he said. “Governor Justice taught me very early on that cultural and heritage tourism helps to fuel economic development and make our communities thrive. I always say art define who we are, and that the goals of what the legislators and Jim Justice does.”

Justice then took a moment to thank the legislators in attendance and those who, as he described, “pulled the rope along the way.”

“We didn’t have any money, we were upside down and we had to make more and more and more cuts,” Justice said of his first term in office. “We were trying to do the right thing and do all we could possibly do. We could have cut the arts, we could have cut our culture — we could’ve.”

If funding for the arts would have been cut at that time, Justice said, “we would have lost our identity of who we really are, and honest to God, if we can’t be proud of who we are, then we’re not much — that’s all there is in my book.”

Referencing the return-on-the-dollar mention by Reid-Smith, Justice said a smart move would be for the state to further invest in the arts.

“I don’t say this very often, but this was not that hard,” Justice said. “This state has four of the most ungodly beautiful seasons under the sun. It’s within a rock’s throw of two-thirds of the population of the entire country, and you are so good, it’s off the chart. You can’t imagine how good you are in the Eastern Panhandle at running your playbook. You are superstars — that’s all there is to it.

“And in so many ways, Charleston is, like, on another planet. They’re so far away, they have no idea, in a lot of ways, what you’re doing,” Justice said. “But, in many ways, we need your playbook, because if we had your playbook then we could run it and a lot more good things would happen.”

The first two grants were classified as Cultural Facilities and Capitals Resources. The Berkeley County Commission received $70,000 to build the Eastern West Virginia Museum of Cultural & History. Old Opera House Theater Company in Charles Town were awarded $99,999 for a HVAC replacement project.

Community Arts Project Grants were next to be awarded. Shepherdstown-based Friends of Music received $20,000 to support the Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra performances and Appalachian Chamber Music Company, of Harpers Ferry, was awarded $15,540 in support of its summer festival. The Contemporary American Theater Festival was also presented with a $20,000 grant.

The first Arts Partnership for Operational Support Grant was presented to the Morgan County Arts Council, based in Berkeley Springs, in the amount of $25,650 for general operating support. The second operational grant went to Old Opera House Theater Company in the amount of $42,850.

The final grant was a Historic Preservation Grant presented to the Berkeley County Roundhouse Authority in the amount of $9,100, to assist with replacing its downspouts and gutter system.

The event kicked off with a welcome to Gov. Jim Justice, who was in attendance, by both Martinsburg Mayor Kevin Knowles and Reid-Smith.

According to Reid-Smith, what Justice has done for the arts could only be called “indescribable.” Having been the state’s commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Culture & History for the past 18 years, he has served a total of three governors since 2006.

“When he came in, we were upside down,” Reid-Smith said. “We had about $640,000 a year for the arts through the state. With everything this year in the new budget, with his help and from legislators, we’re over one-point-one-million dollars from the state this year.”

Reid-Smith said for every dollar of federal funds received, it returns by $11. For every dollar of state funding, it returns by $21.

“We have over 14,000 employed because of the arts,” he said. “Governor Justice taught me very early on that cultural and heritage tourism helps to fuel economic development and make our communities thrive. I always say art define who we are, and that the goals of what the legislators and Jim Justice does.”

Justice then took a moment to thank the legislators in attendance and those who, as he described, “pulled the rope along the way.”

“We didn’t have any money, we were upside down and we had to make more and more and more cuts,” Justice said of his first term in office. “We were trying to do the right thing and do all we could possibly do. We could have cut the arts, we could have cut our culture — we could’ve.”

If funding for the arts would have been cut at that time, Justice said, “we would have lost our identity of who we really are, and honest to God, if we can’t be proud of who we are, then we’re not much — that’s all there is in my book.”

Referencing the return-on-the-dollar mention by Reid-Smith, Justice said a smart move would be for the state to further invest in the arts.

“I don’t say this very often, but this was not that hard,” Justice said. “This state has four of the most ungodly beautiful seasons under the sun. It’s within a rock’s throw of two-thirds of the population of the entire country, and you are so good, it’s off the chart. You can’t imagine how good you are in the Eastern Panhandle at running your playbook. You are superstars — that’s all there is to it.

“And in so many ways, Charleston is, like, on another planet. They’re so far away, they have no idea, in a lot of ways, what you’re doing,” Justice said. “But, in many ways, we need your playbook, because if we had your playbook then we could run it and a lot more good things would happen.”

The first two grants were classified as Cultural Facilities and Capitals Resources. The Berkeley County Commission received $70,000 to build the Eastern West Virginia Museum of Cultural & History. Old Opera House Theater Company in Charles Town were awarded $99,999 for a HVAC replacement project.

Community Arts Project Grants were next to be awarded. Shepherdstown-based Friends of Music received $20,000 to support the Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra performances and Appalachian Chamber Music Company, of Harpers Ferry, was awarded $15,540 in support of its summer festival. The Contemporary American Theater Festival was also presented with a $20,000 grant.

The first Arts Partnership for Operational Support Grant was presented to the Morgan County Arts Council, based in Berkeley Springs, in the amount of $25,650 for general operating support. The second operational grant went to Old Opera House Theater Company in the amount of $42,850.

The final grant was a Historic Preservation Grant presented to the Berkeley County Roundhouse Authority in the amount of $9,100, to assist with replacing its downspouts and gutter system.