Looser-Flake Foundation grants highlight Mercer County arts and culture initiative
The Looser-Flake Foundation, a private foundation administered by the Quad Cities Community Foundation, is dedicated to improving life and culture in Mercer County, Illinois. This year, their Creative Arts Grants funded a project that’s tapping into the growing excitement to visit and explore the region.
VisitMerCo—established in 2020 to highlight the culture of Mercer County and promote local assets through tourism and business opportunities—has received $3,000 from the Foundation to launch a regionally focused podcast.
“Our county has an incredibly rich history and a truly vibrant present,” said Kasi Henshaw, interim executive director for VisitMerCo. “The storytelling we’ll be doing is a way to engage the community and visitors alike and let them go deeper into that history and explore what’s happening locally today.”
The podcast—titled Live MC—will launch in 2025. Scheduled guests include local business owners, experts from the Historical Society, political and community leaders, and many more. In addition to funding from the Looser-Flake Foundation, VisitMerCo is leaning into partnerships to launch the project. This includes working with local radio station WRMJ, which has contributed recording equipment, space, and expertise. The storytelling project will complement a series of informational placards being designed for downtown Aledo by the city and Aledo Main Street.
“There is so much happening in our county,” said Henshaw. “The growth is not a coincidence. It’s been a coordinated group effort, and the excitement around it is contagious. The whole community is making it happen together. That includes partners like the Looser-Flake Foundation. We are so grateful for their support.”
Trustees of the Looser-Flake Foundation have granted more than $100,000 to support creative arts programs in Mercer County, Illinois, this year alone. The awards have been distributed to 16 organizations—as well as Mercer County Better Together, which provides collaborative support—that are expanding arts programming, improving access to the arts, and building arts-based events for the community.
“The Looser-Flake Foundation is investing in the future of Mercer County,” said Kelly Thompson, vice president of grantmaking and community initiatives at the Community Foundation. “Creative arts benefit everyone in the region, providing cultural opportunities and supporting economic development and tourism. Organizations like VisitMerCo are making Mercer County a cultural hub, and we can’t wait to see what they do next.”
The Looser-Flake Foundation was established in 2013 by the estates of Dorothy Looser-Flake and Roberta Looser, sisters who were born and raised on a family farm near New Boston, Illinois. They cared deeply about the community that gave them so much growing up, so much so that they left a portion of their estates to establish the foundation.
To learn more about the Looser-Flake Foundation’s work to advance the growth and culture of Mercer County, including their Creative Arts Grants, click here: https://www.qccommunityfoundation.org/looserflakefoundation