Kresge Foundation to Provide $200,000 for Arts and Community Grants in Detroit
(Detroit,Michigan 7/30/09) The Kresge Foundation of Troy, Michigan, is piloting a new community arts and engagement project in Detroit, Baltimore, Maryland, and St. Louis, Missouri, that encourages residents to use art and culture as a tool to address issues in their communities. The Detroit program is titled Kresge Community Arts. The foundation is investing $200,000 over two years in each city. Grants will range from $2,500 to $10,000.
The project is designed to test Kresge’s belief that grassroots arts and cultural projects can be an effective tool to unite communities, address pressing social issues, and uplift spirits in difficult times. Individuals and groups are encouraged to apply, including local artists and historians, neighborhood and homeowner associations, youth with parental consent, service agencies, municipal governments, community development corporations, and arts and cultural organizations, among others. “We believe a thriving arts and cultural community inspires new thinking, spurs innovation and accelerates the creative vitality of a city or region,” said Rip Rapson, president of the Kresge Foundation. “We hope these grants encourage civic dialogue and provide creative outlets to feed the human spirit.”
Kresge Community Arts is intended to support the creative ideas that percolate from within the selected communities. The hope is that projects will engage underserved and new audiences as well as children, teens and families; promote cross-cultural understanding; increase exposure to art and culture; and provide experiences in non-traditional spaces such as low-income housing developments, juvenile detention centers, battered women’s shelters and after-school program centers.
“There are many talented artists and artistic activities in Detroit that are not always well-funded or widely recognized,” says pilot-program administrator Susan D. Wood. “At the same time, we have numerous social-service entities and community-based groups in Detroit that are working hard to restore distressed neighborhoods and to provide services to families and children. We hope this pilot program will encourage partnerships across these sectors and result in the creation of community-based works of art that inspire residents and revitalize neighborhoods.”
Pilot cities were selected based on a criterion that included median household income and the readiness of existing local partners to help launch the project. Twelve of the nation’s most distressed cities were considered for participation. In metropolitan Detroit, only residents and/or organizations living or located in the cities of Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park are eligible to apply.
Applicants in the three pilot cities – Detroit, Baltimore and St. Louis – may request two-year grants for planning and implementation. Projects do not have to be new, but existing projects will not receive priority funding. Complete information on Kresge Community Arts, the grant process, and applications can be found at www.kresge.org. The submission deadline for the Detroit area is August 31. Grantees will be announced in October 2009 with funding beginning thereafter.
Kresge Foundation – The Kresge Foundation is a $2.8 billion private, national foundation that supports communities by building the capacity of nonprofit organizations in six fields: health, the environment, arts and culture, education, human services and community development. In partnership with grantees, Kresge seeks to influence the quality of life for future generations by creating access and opportunity in underserved communities, improving the health of low-income people, supporting artistic expression, assisting in the revitalization of Detroit, and advancing methods for dealing with global climate change. In 2008, the foundation approved 342 grants totaling $181 million.”
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