Kresge Community Arts
The Kresge Foundation is piloting a new community arts and engagement project in St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; Detroit, Michigan; Tucson, Arizona; and Birmingham, Alabama, that encourages residents to use art and culture as a tool to address issues in their communities.
We are investing $200,000 over two years in each community. Awards will range from $2,500 to $10,000. No additional cities will be selected for the pilot phase.
Our programmatic approach
The project is designed to test our belief that grassroots arts and cultural projects can be an effective tool to unite communities, address pressing social issues, and uplift our spirits in difficult times. Individuals and groups are encouraged to apply, including local artists and historians, neighborhood and homeowner associations, teens with parental consent, service agencies, municipal governments, community development corporations, and arts and cultural organizations, among others.
Application process
In St. Louis, Baltimore, Tucson and Birmingham, Kresge has enlisted local organizations to select and administer the grants. For complete information on eligibility and to apply, contact the local administrator directly. Contact information is below:
St. Louis, Missouri – The Arts and Education Council in St. Louis, www.keeparthappening.org, Cynthia Prost, 314-289-4001,
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Baltimore, Maryland – The Baltimore Community Foundation, www.bcf.org, Melissa Warlow, 410-332-4172 X150, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Tucson, Arizona – Tucson Pima Arts Council, www.tucsonpimaartscouncil.org Leia Maahs, 520-624-0595 x19, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Birmingham, Alabama – Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham, www.cultural-alliance.com Bonner Wagnon, 205-458-1394, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park, Susan D. Wood is administering the program. Application materials can be found in the Resources box in the top, right hand corner of this page. Please download “Kresge Community Arts Guidelines for Detroit” for details.
Deadline for 2010 applications is Friday, March 12.
Information sessions will be held on Monday, Feb. 8 and Monday, Feb. 22, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Avenue,
Detroit, 48202. For more information, contact Susan D. Wood at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
How we work
The project is designed to support the creative ideas that percolate from within the selected communities. Our 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.
Pilot cities were selected based on a criterion that included the median household income of residents and the readiness of existing local partners to help launch the project. Twelve of the nation’s most distressed cities were considered for participation.
Applicants in the pilot cities – St. Louis, Baltimore and Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park, Michigan; Tucson, Arizona; and Birmingham, Alabama – may request one or two-year grants for planning and implementation. Projects do not have to be new but existing projects will not receive priority funding. Grants range from $2,500 to $10,000.
Grantseekers who applied in year-one and were denied are eligible to reapply for the second year of funding. Current grantees are not eilgible for a second grant.
If you have questions, e-mail our Grants Inquiry Coordinator or call 248-643-9630.