Louisville, KY (March 7, 2023) – Fund for the Arts is proud to announce the 12 recipients of the first ever Community Event Mini-Grants. These mini-grants are designed to make supportive grant awards quarterly to organizations and artists presenting multi-disciplinary, multigenerational, free gatherings with arts included. The program is a part of the Fund’s larger Arts in Neighborhoods initiative. The rolling application window is open throughout the year.
The first round of the mini-grant application opened early January 2023 and closed later that month. A team of 13 community members evaluated and provided feedback on applications and gave recommendations on which events to move forward in the process. 13 events in 6 Louisville Metro Council districts (1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9) and 1 in Jeffersonville, Indiana, are awarded funding support.
This new funding opportunity was designed not only to support artists and organizations with existing, effective events, but to make both the application and reporting processes more accessible to better foster connections with new applicants. In response to these changes, 6 of those 13 artists and organizations receiving funding are first-time applicants. Within the 13, 5 have leadership who self-identify as Black or African American, 1 who self-identifies as Asian, and 7 who self-identify as white.
“Funding from Fund for the Arts provides a huge encouragement not only to the Korea Fiber Art International but also to the Louisville community both morally and financially,” says Moonhe Baik, President of Korea Fiber Art International, a non-profit organization. “Korea Fiber Art International strives to provide broader relations between the art community of Louisville and other parts of the world. Support from Fund for the Arts will help us move forward and continue this endeavor.”
Details on the grant recipients and their events:
- Korea Fiber Arts Forum: Celebrate fiber arts with this international festival throughout March 2023. Works will be shown at KMAC Museum, 21c Museum, Louisville Visual Art, Metro Hall, Asia Institute Crane house and Cressman gallery of University of Louisville.
- Louisville Story Program: Book launch for “If You Write Me a Letter Send it Here” on April 13, 2023 at Louisville Central Community Center
- Louisville Jazz Initiative: Monthly Revitalize Louisville jam session and roundtable discussion on the second Sunday, March – December, 4 – 7 pm at the Monarch
- United Crescent Hill Ministries: “Family Dinner” featuring a production from Commonwealth Theatre Center on March 23, 2023
- Kentucky Shakespeare: Shakespeare in the Parks Spring tour of: “Hamlet” at Shawnee Park and Big Four Station Park (Jeffersonville, IN)
- Looking for Lilith: Hip Hop Hercules Spring Break Camp, April 3 – 7, 2023
- Louisville Academy of Music: Florence Price Festival at LFPL on March 4, Speed Art Museum on March 12, and Simmons College on March 18, 2023
- Luminary Comity: Outreach and enrichment at Local ACT-SO Competition on April 22 and May 21, 2023
- Julia Cash: Music for a Purpose Chamber Music Concert on February 10 and 11, 2023
- SpreadLovEnterprise: Weekly Living Room series, every Wednesday at varying locations
- Louisville Creative Connect: Valentines for Creatives this past Valentine’s Day
- Mental Health Lou: Mindfest Lou on May 21, 2023
“Our team at Fund for the Arts is excited to announce the first Community Event Mini-Grants, and we celebrate each grant recipient for organizing events together with their community partners,” said Sarah Lindgren, Vice President, Community Investment and Support at Fund for the Arts. “The Mini-Grant program was developed in response to a growing number of requests for resources to support neighborhood and community-centered events. These and future Mini-Grants help support both new and long-existing events across our entire city, all year long!”
For further information about grants and funding opportunities or partnerships with Fund for the Arts, visit fundforthearts.org/funding/ or email grants@fundforthearts.org.
IN THE NEWS: “Applications are open for a new ‘mini grant’ program for cultural events in Greater Louisville neighborhoods” | Stephanie Wolfe for Louisville Public Media; January 5, 2023
ABOUT FUND FOR THE ARTS
Fund for the Arts is a regional nonprofit with the mission to contribute to the overall health and well-being of our community by generating resources for, investing in, and supporting our local arts, artists, and arts organizations. The Fund envisions a healthy and vibrant community where everyone embraces the art that exists in our lives every day, everyone contributes to the well-being of our arts community, and it is understood that everyone belongs to the arts community. The organization facilitates the largest arts grant program in Greater Louisville and it conducts one of the two oldest united arts campaigns in the country. For more information, visit www.fundforthearts.org
###
