STARworks Center for Creative Enterprise and the town of Star will launch a major event next spring with help from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Central Park NC, the nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization that operates STARworks, is one of 80 NEA 2012 Our Town grant recipients and will receive $50,000 to help in its efforts to grow a vibrant glass arts community in the area.

"Primarily, this funding will allow us to launch a major event next spring that we're calling FireFest," said Nancy Gottovi, executive director of CPNC. "FireFest will celebrate the role of fire in the creation of art, with a focus on sculpture."

Through Our Town, the NEA supports creative placemaking projects that help transform communities into lively, beautiful and sustainable places with the arts at their core. The grantee projects will improve quality of life, encourage creative activity, create community identity and a sense of place, and help revitalize local economies.

All Our Town grant awards, totaling $4,995,000 across 44 states, were made to partnerships that consisted of a minimum of a nonprofit organization and a local government entity.

"We are thrilled to have STARworks in our community," said Star Mayor Susan Eggleston, "and especially excited about this project that promises to bring thousands of people to our town. Growing a glass community here fits perfectly with the work we are doing to revitalize Star."

"Cities and towns are transformed when you bring the arts - both literally and figuratively - into the center of them," said NEA Chairman Landesman. "From Teller, Alaska, to Miami, Fla., communities are pursuing creative placemaking, making their neighborhoods more vibrant and robust by investing in the performing, visual, and literary arts. I am proud to be partnering with these 80 communities and their respective arts, civic and elected leaders."

"We are extremely grateful to receive the Our Town grant to help us create FireFest," said Gottovi. "This project has been in the works for quite some time, and now we have the funds necessary to make it really special. STARworks has been on a mission to grow a vibrant glass arts community in Star. FireFest will bring us one step closer to that goal."

The NEA received 317 applications for Our Town that were assigned to one of three application review panels based on their project type: arts engagement, cultural planning and design, or non-metro and tribal communities. With only 80 grants emerging from the 317 applications, or a success rate of 25 percent, competition was strong, a testament to the artistic excellence and merit of FireFest.

For a complete listing of projects recommended for Our Town grant support, visit the NEA website at www.arts.gov.