A Greenwood dance instructor has been awarded a grant to attend a major teaching conference in New York next month.
The $500 grant is part of $1.34 million that the Mississippi Arts Commission will be awarding in 2014-2015.
Erin Mulligan will be attending the Dance Teacher Summit. The conference is specifically designed for dance educators, studio owners, professors and performers from around the globe.
Mulligan, a dance educator since 1998, currently teaches at Studio A and ArtPlace Mississippi in Greenwood. She also operates Shift Movement Arts Center of Indianola, where students take classes in ballet, jazz, modern dance and yoga.
Prior to moving to the Mississippi Delta, Mulligan, a performing arts graduate of Bradford College of Havermill, Massachusetts, taught throughout the Boston area.
“The arts in Mississippi are now being recognized as a key component to economic development and as a driver for creative strategies for the growth of our communities,” said Dr. Tom Pearson, executive director of the commission, in prepared remarks.
“Individual artists play a vital role as really the backbone of this movement, and it is an honor for this agency to be a part of their professional growth.”
The Mississippi Arts Commission is funded by the state Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mississippi Endowment for the Arts at the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson and other private sources.
