FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2004

Saratoga Springs, NY - The Mockingbird Foundation has announced a grant of $5,000 to the Center for Latino Arts, a project of Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion, a dynamic community-building agency located in Boston, MA. The Foundation -- incorporated by fans of the rock band Phish and named for the title character of a Phish song -- has now contributed almost $200,000 to music education for children.

The Center for Latino Arts is a cutting-edge, multi-functional, community arts complex designed to provide high quality and affordable performances and arts education programming for at-risk youth in music, dance, theater and the visual arts; advocacy, coordination and incubation for Latino artists and arts organizations; exhibition, work, rehearsal and performance space; and opportunities for cross-cultural collaboration between Latinos and the rest of the city’s diverse populations. The Mockingbird Foundation grant will support instruction in Puerto Rican musical styles (Jibaro, Bomba, and Plena) and Latin percussion through a new Latino folkloric youth music education program.

The Mockingbird Foundation was incorporated in 1997 as a nonprofit (501c3) fundraiser and grantmaker. The all-volunteer organization raises funds mainly through sales of The Phish Companion (a 928-page book about Phish and their music, written by over 1500 volunteers), Sharin' in the Groove (a double-CD tribute album exploring influences on Phish's music), and related projects. The grant announced today represents the sixth round of competitive grantmaking by the Foundation, and brings the total funds distributed by the Foundation to $195,121.40. Additional grants will be announced later this year.