For immediate release:
Tory Parker
Director of Marketing and Communications | Fund for the Arts
Tparker@fundforthearts.org
Fund for the Arts Announces Recipients of the Community Event Mini-Grant for Summer 2024
Louisville, KY (June 20, 2024) – Fund for the Arts is proud to announce the 10 latest recipients of the Community Event Mini-Grants. These Mini-Grants are designed to make supportive grant awards throughout the year to organizations and artists working alongside a community partner to present multi-disciplinary, multigenerational, free gatherings with arts included. The program is a part of the Fund’s Arts in Neighborhoods initiative.
This round of the Mini-Grant application closed May 17, 2024. The Community Event Mini-Grant application is available on a rolling basis, with funds awarded 4 times throughout a calendar year.
A panel of community members evaluated and provided feedback on applications and gave recommendations on which events to move forward in the process. 10 events in 5 Louisville Metro Council districts (1,4,6,8,15) have been awarded funding support.
“Small events and festivals were once commonplace in the city. This funding opportunity brings celebrations back to the neighborhood level, harkening a nostalgia that, for the sake of our city moving forward, demands to be restored,” said Mariel Gardner of West Louisville Women’s Collaborative. “Chickasaw has wondrous strength and West Louisville Women’s Collaborative alongside the Chickasaw Neighborhood Federation headed by Ameerah Granger are delighted to bring this joyous celebration to our neighbors and friends.”
“It feels good to be supported by my community, to then support my community with an intentional offering that celebrates Sisterhood, Joy, and Care,” said Mahogany Mayfield. “This retreat will be a space full of artmaking, community loving, and centering self!”
This funding opportunity is designed to support individuals, groups, and organizations with existing, short-term, one-time innovative, creative, community events, and to make both the application and reporting processes more accessible in hopes of fostering connections with new applicants. For 6 of the 10 artists and organizations receiving funding this cycle, this is their first time receiving a grant from Fund for the Arts.
“We are thrilled to have the support of Fund for the Arts,” said Zac Campbell-Hoogendyk, Artistic Director of This Bridge Theatre. “Producing Theatre is a daunting, expensive endeavor. With the help of the Fund, we will be able to perform our show for the LGBTQIA+ youth that it’s intended for, at absolutely no cost to these young people.”
Details on the grant recipients and their events:
- JonAnthony Floyed-Jackson with The Monarch Music Arts Community: Jazz Jam Session at The Monarch from 3 – 6 pm on June 9, July 14, and August 11.
- Mexico Lindo at St. Thomas Episcopal Church: Mexico Lindo Quinceañera Celebration at Bourbon Hall, 116 W Jefferson Street, at 6 pm on July 19.
- S.A.N.F.A.N. [See A Need Fill A Need] with Louisville Organizing Arts Group: “Dream a World of Superheroes” at the Western Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library from 2:30 – 3:45 pm on July 25 and at the Downtown Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library from 5:30 – 7:30 pm on July 26.
- Black Future Fest and Hope Garden: Black Future Fest at the California Community Center from 1 – 6 pm on August 3.
- West Louisville Women’s Collaborative with the Chickasaw Neighborhood Federation: “8th of August,” a family reunion-style event for Kentucky’s Emancipation Day from 5 – 8 pm on the three contiguous properties owned by the West Louisville Women’s Collaborative at 40th and Hale Avenue, including ELA House and the Peace Labyrinth.
- This Bridge Theatre and Louisville Youth Group: “Over My Dead Body: A Ghost/Zombie Variety Spectacular Featuring Marilyn Monroe and George Washington,” 7 pm at Louisville Pride Center on August 21 & 22.
- Young Authors Greenhouse and Foxing Books: Readers and Writers Fair will be at Foxing Books sometime in late August/early September (TBD).
- Mahogany Mayfield: Sisterhood, Joy, and Care Retreat at the Louisville Pride Center from 10 am – 8 pm on September 8.
- IDEAS xLab and Jaylin Stewart: Broken Wings Still Fly and Coloring Book Release from 4 – 8 pm at Farmington Historic Plantation on September 28.
- Change Today, Change Tomorrow and Life4YOUth: Fall Festival at 2339 Date Street in the California Neighborhood in early October.
For further information on each upcoming event, please visit the websites and/or social media channels for the organizers. For further information about grants and funding opportunities or partnerships with Fund for the Arts, visit fundforthearts.org/funding/ or sign up for Arts Scoop email newsletter at fundforthearts.org/arts-scoop/.
The Community Event Mini-Grant is powered by the support of LG&E and KU Company.
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
“11 neighborhood events in Louisville get cash through mini-grants” | Breya Jones for Louisville Public Media; May 2, 2023
“Free arts events in Louisville get a budget boost from mini-grant program” | Breya Jones for Louisville Public Media; April 5, 2024
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
###
