RobertsFOUNDATION

The Edward C.& Ann T.

200 7AN N UAL R E PORT

It was business-as-usual (in a good way) for the

Foundation’s grantmaking in 2007 with the grants

budget up slightly to $316,000. In other

respects, it was a year of major and minor

milestones for the 43-year-old Foundation.

Smaller milestones included the 5th anniversary

of the Creation of New Work Initiative and

executive director Elizabeth Normen’s 10th

anniversary with the Foundation. The major

milestone was the retirement of Jan Larsen after

26 years of service on the board.

Nearly $100,000 has been awarded in the

Creation of New Work Initiative’s first five years to

eleven artists and eight organizations. The two

CNW projects awarded funding for 2007

produced wonderful new works by composer/

musicians Steve Davis and David Macbride.

Steve Davis’s Hartford Suite opened the 2007

Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz. Davis described

the process of composing the work, a multi-move-

ment piece inspired by Hartford’s people and

places, in the Hartford Courant (July 19, 2007):

After being commissioned by the Edward C.

and Ann T. Roberts Foundation to compose

the suite, Davis let ideas percolate in his

head for a couple of months. By May, the

globetrotting sideman was touring Europe

with the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Star

Big Band. Composing was virtually

impossible. “Finally in June, I had 10 days

off here at home…. Once I was home,

it was like an avalanche. In seven or eight

days, I wrote eight tunes, about one a day.

The Suite…is my way of expressing my

gratitude to the community—particularly to

the Hartford jazz community and all the

people who come out to jazz events

in Hartford.

David Macbride was inspired to compose No Mas

Muertes! (No More Deaths!) by the artistry of the

Alturas Duo (Carlos Boltes, viola; Scott Hill,

guitar) and the words of Luis Alberto Urrea’s The

Devil’s Highway, a book about the deaths from

dehydration of undocumented immigrants in the

Arizona dessert. Macbride composed the work

specifically for Alturas Duo and included spoken

word drawn from The Devil’s Highway. The new

work was performed on November 10, 2007 at

Trinity-On-Main in a concert that featured three

other compositions by Macbride (performed by

the Quey Percussion Duo and Adaskin String

Trio) followed by a set by son Jimmy Macbride and

his quartet, also featuring Jimmy Greene, Earl

MacDonald, and Stephen Porter, with guest (and

Macbride daughter) Alma on piano and saxo-

phone. An adjacent exhibition space showcased

drawings by artist Lisa Macbride, David’s wife.

It was a singular event showcasing not only the

talents of the Macbride family but also the talents

of the Quey Percussion Duo, Adaskin String Trio,

Alturas Duo, and the Jimmy Macbride Quartet.

Janet M. Larsen completed her final term on the

board in December 2007. Jan joined the

Foundation in 1981 when Ann “Sunny” Roberts

was still actively involved. She was the last board

member to have known Mrs. Roberts personally.

When Mrs. Roberts’s health began to decline, Jan

became vice president (in 1986) and assumed

the presidency after Mrs. Roberts’s death in

1991. Jan stepped down as president in 1999,

continuing on the board as a regular member.

Jan led the foundation during a period of rapid

growth. The foundation’s assets and grants

budget grew significantly due to an infusion of

funds from Mrs. Roberts’s bequest and a strong

stock market in the 1990s. Under Jan’s leader-

ship, the Foundation offered a major one-time

Board of Trustees for 2007:

Magrieta L. Willard President

Thomas J. Groark, Jr.Secretary

Pierre GuertinTreasurer

H. Alex Vance, Jr.Chair, Investment Committee

Janet M. Larsen

Olivia WhiteArts Representative

Joyce Willis

Elizabeth J. NormenExecutive Director

RobertsFOUNDATION

The Edward C.& Ann T.

Creation of New Work 2007

Board Bids a Reluctant Farewell

grant opportunity in 1997, The Roberts Project, to

honor the foundation’s donors. Arts organizations

were invited to apply for a significant purpose

or goal which they had been unable to undertake

or fund.

In May 1997, the Foundation awarded two Roberts

Project grants, the largest program grants it had

ever made. One hundred thousand dollars each

was awarded to the Hartford Stage to initiate a

new plays festival, and to a collaboration of the

Hartt School, Hartford Art School, and School of

the Hartford Ballet to launch a center for younger

leadership in the arts. In announcing the Roberts

Project grants, Jan noted, “In selecting these

exciting new programs, we honor the generous

spirit of Ned and Sunny Roberts whose lives were

filled with a love of the arts and whose deepest

hopes were for the future vitality of the arts in our

community. These programs are designed to

encourage both young and established artists to

pursue their artistic vision and share it with the

community.” Hartford Stage continues today, a

decade later, to hold Brand:New, a festival

highlighting new plays, launched with Roberts

Project funding.

The Foundation expresses its deepest

appreciation to Jan for her long dedication to the

Roberts Foundation and its mission to support and

encourage excellence in the arts in the Greater

Hartford community.

The Foundation welcomed Pierre Guertin, who will

serve as treasurer, and Olivia White, the

foundation’s arts representative for 2007-2008, to

the board at the beginning of 2007. In December,

John Alves was elected and welcomed to

the board.

Robert Sella in HartfordStage’s production of

“Chick, The Great Osram.”Photo: T. Charles Erickson.

…and Welcomes New Members

The Mort and Irma HandelPerforming Arts Centerunder construction. TheRoberts Foundation BlackBox Theater is on the rightoff the main lobby (above)

and juts through the roof(above left).

Photo: University of Hartford

left: Steve Davis performing“The Hartford Suite,” a2007 Roberts FoundationCreation of New Work project, at the GreaterHartford Festival of Jazz.Photo: Steven Sussman,www.Sussman Photography.com

Excellence in the Arts Grants, Program:

Ballet Theatre CompanyProduction support for 2007 concert $3,000

Capital Classics

Production support for 2007 summer Shakespeare Festival $3,000

Charter Oak Cultural Center

Dance at Charter Oak $5,500

Community Partners in Action

Equipment for Prison Art Program $2,500

CONCORA

Partial season production support, spring 2008 $4,000

Connecticut Ballet

Production support for Sleeping Beauty

at the Belding Theater $7,500

Connecticut Guitar Society

Production support for Guitar Masters series $5,000

Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra

Production support for 2007-2008 season at

Trinity-On-Main $5,000

Cultural Dance Troupe of the West Indies

Production support for 2008 Cultural Spectacular $5,000

Friends of Elizabeth Park

Production support for summer 2007 concert series $2,000

Full Force Dance Theatre

Production support for 2007 concert $3,000

Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz

Production support for 2007 jazz festival $7,500

HartBeat Ensemble

Production support for The Pueblo $5,000

Hartford Children's Theater

Production support for Mainstage Series $5,000

Hartford Chorale

Support for professional core singers $5,000

Hartford Jazz Society

Production support for Jazz at the Atheneum series $5,000

Hartford Stage

Production support for Chick, The Great Osram $25,000

Hartford Symphony

Production support for the Family Matinee series $25,000

Lift Every Voice & Sing

Production support for 2007 gospel festival $3,000

Mark Twain House

Conservation of paintings & works on paper $12,500

Judy Dworin Performance Project

Production support for The Witching Hour $5,000

National Theatre of the Deaf

Hartford-area performances of Little Theatre of the Deaf $5,000

New Britain Symphony

Production support for 2007-2008 concert series $2,500

Oil Drum Art, Inc.

Support for exhibition at ArtSpace $3,000

Pilobolus

Support for creation of a new work,

The Persistence of Memory $7,500

Real Art Ways

Support for a public art project in the Frog Hollow

and Parkville Neighborhoods in Hartford $12,500

Riverfront Recapture, Inc.

Production support for 2007 Opera al Fresco $5,000

Studio of Electronic Music

Production support for 2008 concert series $2,000

Trinity On Main

Production support for their Avery Ensemble

concert series $2,500

Wadsworth Atheneum

Support for the What Lies Beneath exhibition $25,000

West Indian Foundation

Support for an exhibition of works by Michael Escoffrey $5,000

Woodland Concert Series

Production support for a Vaughan Williams concert $2,500

Capital/Major:

Artists Collective

Final distribution of a $30,000 grant

for building repairs $15,000

Connecticut Science Center

1st distribution of $25,000 grant for public art $7,500

Hill-Stead Museum

2nd distribution on a $50,000 grant for a major

book on Hill-Stead $15,000

New Britain Museum of American Art

Final distribution on a $50,000 grant for print/works

-on-paper study room $12,500

University of Hartford

1st distribution of $100,000 grant to Hartt's new

performing arts center $25,000

Creation of New Work 2007:(Awarded 2006, distributed 2007)

Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz

The Hartford Suite by Steve Davis $12,500

Trinity On Main

No Mas Muertes by David Macbride $12,500

Creation of New Work 2008:

(Awarded 2007, to be distributed 2008)

Real Art Ways

New work by Hirokazu Fukawa, $12,500

Total Disbursed in 2007: $316,000

Statements of Support, Revenue, Expenses,

and Other Changes in Net Assets, Modified Cash Basis

For the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006

Changes in operating net assets:

Revenues:

Interest & dividends $ 250,349 $ 197,152

Net realized & unrealized

gains on securities 375,326 909,696

625,675 1,106,848

Expenses:

Grants 316,000 300,000

Administrative 88,642 82,211

Excise tax payment net 17,698 11,772

422,340 393,983

Changes in net assets: 203,335 712,865

Net assets,

beginning of the year 8,116,985 7,404,120

Net assets,

end of the year: $ 8,320,320 $ 8,116,985

2007 2006

The Edward C. & Ann T. Roberts Foundation

is a private, special purpose foundation.

In accordance with the founders’ wishes, its purpose

is to support and encourage excellence in the arts.

The Foundation focuses its giving in Hartford,

Connecticut and theimmediately surrounding area.

Deadlines are February 1, May 1, August 1, and

November 1 for Excellence in the Arts grants and

September 1 for the Creation

of New Work Initiative.

RobertsFOUNDATION

The Edward C.& Ann T.

P. O. Box 271588

West Hartford, CT 06127-1588

Judy Dworin Performance Project’s “TheWitching Hour.” Photo: Nick Lacy

Guidelines and information on

the application process are available

from The Foundation by calling

(860) 233-0228 or on the Web at

http://foundationcenter.org

/grantmaker/e&aroberts.

RobertsFOUNDATION

ConnecticutBallet’s “Sleeping

Beauty” performedat the Belding

Theater. Photo: Ben Gancsos

Lorena Garay performingin HartBeat Ensemble’s

original play, “The Pueblo.”Photo: Larry Bilanski

Pilobolus’s new duet, “Persistence of Memory,” funded in part by a Roberts Foundation grant. Photo: Jun Kuribayashi, courtesy of Pilobolus

“In selecting these exciting new programs, we honor the generous

spirit of Ned and Sunny Roberts whose lives were filled with a love

of the arts and whose deepest hopes were for the future vitality of the

arts in our community.” Janet M. Larsen, 1997, announcing the Roberts Project grants

RobertsFOUNDATION

The Edward C.& Ann T.