Arizona Arts Organizations Receive National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Grants
Today the National Endowment for the Arts announced the 2012 recipients of the Our Town Grant, which delivers $5 million in support for projects in 80 communities across the country. Arizona is home to four Our Town grant recipients; two organizations received funding in 2011 and two more recieved funding in the 2012 funding cycle. In 2011, the International Sonoran Desert Alliance and the Tucson Pima Arts Council each received $100,000 in grant funds for creative placemaking projects. The 2012 recipients include the Flagstaff Cultural Partners ($50,000), and the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture ($100,000), with the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation, Phoenix Center for the Arts, and Arizona State University Art Museum.
Full press release and 2012 project descriptions are included below.
National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2012 Our Town Grant Recipients
Flagstaff Cultural Partners
Flagstaff, Arizona
$50,000Flagstaff, Arizona, with a population of 62,371, serves as the hub for Coconino County and the gateway to the Grand Canyon. The city’s local arts agency, Flagstaff Cultural Partners, is teaming with the City of Flagstaff and five governmental, educational, and business organizations for a community-wide planning process, including a feasibility study and comprehensive business plan, for creating an arts incubator for the burgeoning arts community in northern Arizona. The incubator will provide professional gallery space, art studios, and workshops where established artists and professionals will serve to mentor emerging artists in best business practices and development of their work. The planning process is the first phase in the development of the incubator
City of Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
$100,000The City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, with the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation, Phoenix Center for the Arts, and Arizona State University Art Museum, will use their Our Town grant on the Cultural Connections project, a series of temporary public art installations and free public art events in currently vacant or underutilized spaces in the Roosevelt Row Arts District, located downtown near the a new light rail stop that opened in 2008. Project activities will include establishing pedestrian connections between existing cultural facilities and the new light rail corridor. The project is expected to reinforce the district’s identity by improving the perception of safety, bringing artwork to the street, and creating connections and access to established institutions.
