BEDFORD – The Executive Director of Stonegate Linda Harrison and President of the Board Duane Embree presented to the City Council a report on the Stonegate Arts and Education Center yesterday, July 17.
The update presented the following matters:
- 5-year plan midpoint report – to be provided in January of 2024
- Financial Overview and Projection – to be provided in January of 2024
- The addition of Fiber-optic internet – coming soon at roughly $600 a month from Comcast.
These reports will determine whether the project is on track with the projected scope. Duane Embree noted that as of now, things were looking to be in order for the January update.
Linda Harrison provided an overview of Stonegate and its programs.
Academic Partners
- The Ivy Tech branch at Stonegate currently provides only skill-based classes that focus on practical, job-specific career training for future employees. Academic courses, like English, Mathematics, and the like, are not offered.
- A Skilled Trades showcase is offered on Thursday, October 5th, for potential students to get a look at different trades.
- Vincennes at Stonegate completed a Clinical Medical Assistance course this past semester, and is now looking at the fall class offerings. Vincennes is also exploring the possibility of bringing a Homeland Security program to Stonegate.
Stonegate Arts and Media Development
Stonegate received a grant of $4,000 for Special Projects and $7,250 from an Arts In Education grant. Those funds will help in the following improvements:
- Under development is a Performing Arts program for adults. Stonegate already offers theater productions for kids, but they are looking to offer the same for adults.
- Ivy Tech Kids Camp has shown growth in the last couple of years. Formerly, half of the attending students were present on a scholarship. This most recent camp saw those number drop; only a third of the students were attending on scholarships. With interest in the activity picking up, Kids Camp has been expanded for 2023.
- The new Cultural Crawl is an activity taking place on July 29th in partnership with other entities such as the Bedford Public Library. The event will begin at the library, then move about downtown to different businesses, learning about different cultures with fun, interesting activities.
- Media expansion – with the new rules dictating that all government meetings must be live-streamed and recorded in the future, the Stonegate Arts and Education Center is undergoing preparations for setting up the recording and streaming of events.
