Seattle-Area Organizations to Benefit From U.S. Bank Grants.

Business Editors

Ken Kirkpatrick, president of U.S. Bank in Seattle, announced today that the U.S. Bancorp Foundation has awarded 73 grants totaling $427,150 to nonprofit organizations in Washington, 36 of which were to organizations in the Seattle area. The grants represent U.S. Bank's commitment to supporting organizations that improve the quality of life in communities it serves.

Some of the grant recipients in the Seattle area include:

-- The Corporate Council for the Arts in Seattle, founded 32 years ago as a united arts fund to facilitate businesses' support of the arts;

-- The Kirkland Performance Center in Kirkland, to maintain affordable tickets to the Student and Family Performance Series, which will include programs from Studio East, the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia and Rhys Thomas' Science Circus, which combines juggling, humor and acrobatics to enliven the study of science;

-- The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center in Seattle in support of their eight-week Summer Youth Theatre Project that serves youth ages 8 to 18 years and offers instruction in acting, dance, singing and technical production. The youth participate in all aspects of creating a production and the program culminates with 4 admission-free performances at the Paramount Theatre;

-- La Casa de Artes a Latino-led, volunteer-driven organization in Seattle that is dedicated to promoting, presenting and preserving Latino arts and culture, for its Artes Patrias, a series of cultural arts workshops. Artes Patrias will be a collaborative effort between the Concilio for the Spanish Speaking and La Casa de Artes with the additional partnership of the Seattle Center and Seattle Parks and Recreation;

-- The Pat Graney Company in Seattle, committed to creating and performing new dance/performance works and to conduct arts education programming;

-- Village Theatre in Issaquah for their youth education programs that provide classes, performance opportunities and professional children's theatre to East King and Snohomish County residents. The KIDSTAGE program offers a "kid-driven" summer performance by youth ages 10 to 20 years, focusing on the "making" of art, while Pied Piper Presents offers quality children's theatre performances; and

-- The Seattle Children's Theatre for their production of The Big Friendly Giant, a story about a young British girl who conspires with the Big Friendly Giant to save the world from the Giant's carnivorous cousins. The Big Friendly Giant is a celebration of imagination and playfulness, qualities that Seattle Children's Theatre strives to foster in every child.

"We are thrilled to have U.S. Bank as a partner on our production of The Big Friendly Giant in our 2002-2003 season," said Molly Reed, development director at the Seattle Children's Theatre.

"We lend our financial support to arts and education organizations because they add to the cultural life of our community," Kirkpatrick said. "Theatre, music, dance and the visual arts enrich us all. They help to make our community a better place to live."

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, with assets in excess of $173 billion, is the 8th largest financial services holding company in the United States. The company operates 2,131 banking offices and 4,818 ATMs, and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. U.S. Bancorp is home of the Five Star Service Guarantee which assures customers of certain key banking benefits and services or customers will be paid for their inconvenience. U.S. Bancorp is the parent company of Firstar Bank and U.S. Bank. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at usbank.com.