Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) Awards Second Round of Grants

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Children & Youth, Creative Placemaking, Education, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

Rhode Island schools, organizations, community centers, and artists were awarded $827,782 in the April 2019 round of grants from RISCA. The Arts Council’s board approved the awarding of these grants at its June meeting in Providence. These grants will go to support arts in education, community-based projects by organizations and individual artist fellowships and projects for this fiscal year. Statewide, 146 grants were awarded in response to applications received at RISCA’s April 1 deadline.

Governor Gina Raimondo applauded the recipients of these grants, saying, “I’m thrilled to support these grants awarded by the State Arts Council. The arts are a significant part of our economy—they represent jobs for artists and non-artists alike, and are part of the reason why Rhode Island is a destination for cultural tourism. The State’s investment in the arts contributes to the quality of life we enjoy and the education of all Rhode Islanders. I’m proud to live in a state that values the arts in our everyday lives.”

“We’re particularly pleased with this round of grant awards,” said Randall Rosenbaum, Executive Director of the RISCA. “Programs in arts education and projects that support the work of artists in communities throughout our state contribute to our great quality of life here in Rhode Island.”

RISCA funds are matched by businesses, individuals, and earned income. The Council receives its support through an annual appropriation from the Rhode Island General Assembly and from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Examples of projects supported in the current round of grants include: The PACE Org of RI in Woonsocket received $2,500 to complete a mural project with Riverzedge Arts to be painted on a concrete wall that is visible from the day center windows of PACE’s northern Rhode Island location. This project includes planning sessions where the youth of Riverzedge Arts and the elders at PACE work together to create a design that would later be painted.

School One in Providence received $3,000 to offer an Intergenerational Arts Program. The program brings together high school students and adults aged 65 and over to explore their creativity, learn theater skills, develop their powers of expression, and forge relationships across the generations. Unique to RI, the Intergenerational Arts Program uses theater to foster authentic collaboration and learning.

In partnership with Central Falls School District’s “Expanded Learning Communities,” artist Benjamin Lundberg Torres Sánchez from Providence received $1,880 to offer summer-long Media Literacy & Media Production workshops to high school or middle school aged young people that will resource them with grounding in media analysis & provide practical skill-building in production using readily available tools such as the students’ phones.

Artist Alfonso Acevedo from Central Falls received $2,500 to continue his Millennium Art Factory Central Falls project, working with youth ages 6-20 providing free art workshop for students of all levels of experience to hone their art skills. The work the participants create is then exhibited around Central Falls and Pawtucket in local businesses and government buildings.

Artist Mishki Fern Thompson, Narragansett, from Charlestown will lead 10 free beading workshops around Washington County, RI. These workshops will introduce the public to Native American culture and Native traditions of beading arts, as well as how to create their own pieces of art. Half of the workshops are for youth ages 10-15, and half are for teens and adults ages 16 and up.

Oasis International in Providence received $2,250 in support of their 26th African Summer Bash. The Bash celebrates the cultural richness of African and other diverse ethnic groups in Southwest Providence – including the Cape Verdean community – through music, dance, food, and the arts. The Bash is a free, all-day festival with games and live entertainment for all ages.

The Autism Project in Johnston received $3,000 in support of “In Harmony”, a program in partnership with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School that provides music and social skills education to children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The program includes a school year of weekly music education for 15-20 youth, ending with a public performance; and summer camp for 115 campers with music activities.

For a complete list of grant recipients go to https://risca.online/grants/grant-recipients-fy20-spring-cycle/

RI Council for the Humanities Awards Grants, Mini Grants, Hosts NEH and NEA

by Posted in Creative Placemaking, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

GCRI Member Rhode Island Council for the Humanities hosted A Cultural Conversation with Jane Chu of the National Endowment for the Arts and Karen Kenton of the National Endowment for the the Humanities, as well as all of Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation.  Over 300 community members attended the session, which took place at Trinity Repertory Theater.

RICH also announced a total of $136,429 in new grants to 14 humanities initiatives across the state.  The announcement ceremony, attended by over 50 representatives from civic and cultural organizations, recognized Rhode Island’s strong humanities community and the role the humanities play in civic and community engagement.

Grantees included New Urban Arts, Manton Avenue Project, newportFILM, RISD Museum, South County History Center, Rhode Island Latino Arts, Little Compton Historical Society, Providence Preservation Society and Stages of Freedom for the Public Project category.  In the Documentary film category, grants were awarded to Center for Independent Documentary, Rhode Island PBS and the Rhode Island Historical Society, while Meeting Street and Pushed Learning and Media/New Urban Arts received grants in the K-12 Civic Education category.

More information

The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities also announced four Mini Grants to two organizations and two independent researchers. These public projects and individual research efforts will reach thousands of Rhode Islanders as they engage topics of preservation of family archives, the impact of a cultural nonprofit on its new neighborhood, how communities experience and remember a theatre festival, and finally, how we uncover and tell the stories of those traditionally on the fringes of the dominant historical narratives.

Awardees were The Wilbury Theatre Group, Community MusicWorks, Amy Barlow and Joey DeFrancesco.  Learn more

Neighborworks Blackstone River Valley Hosts Concert in the Park Program

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Community Development, Creative Placemaking, Member Highlights, Member News, Member Sponsored Events, Philanthropy

After learning about the Levitt Foundation’s AMP Your City grant program in the GCRI nonprofit newsletter, Neighborworks Blackstone River Valley applied for, and received Levitt funding to offer a summer full of free outdoor concerts.

Said Meghan Rego, Director of Resource Development and Communications at Neighborworks, “Thanks [to GCRI] for including it in the newsletter so that we knew of the opportunity and were able to apply.  Woonsocket is a buzz about [the] music already; this grant has been an incredible community building tool.”

The goal of the concert series is to reinvigorate the scenic and underused River Island Art Park, “drawing neighbors back into the once bustling public square at the heart of the city to enjoy free and accessible art, serving as both a cultural gathering center where community ties are strengthened and an economic catalyst to the surrounding area.”  The programming builds on Creative Placemaking funding that Neighborworks received from LISC RI, a GCRI member.

More information

Congratulations to Neighborworks, and please remember to share your RFP’s with GCRI so we can help get the word out through GCRI CONNECT, our nonprofit newsletter.

Tufts Health Plan Foundation Supports Efforts for Make Communities Better for All Ages Through $1.8 million in Grants

by Posted in Aging, Basic Need, Children & Youth, Corporate Citizenship, Creative Placemaking, Health and Wellness, Member Highlights, Member News, Member Sponsored Events, Uncategorized

Tufts Health Plan Foundation announced nearly $1.8 million in new community investments that reflect its commitment to make cities and towns great places to grow up and grow old. The new grants will support initiatives at 16 community organizations in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire working to make communities healthier for people of all ages, with a specific interest in engaging older adults. These investments are in addition to nearly $1 million in previously announced work.

The supported grants in systems improvement and best practices reflect a trend of increased regional and local efforts to create age- and dementia-friendly communities. The initiatives promote cross-sector collaboration, expand engagement of older people, advance improvements to support the health and wellbeing of older people, and foster intergenerational connections.

“Each community will follow its own path to becoming age- and dementia-friendly. Support from Tufts Health Plan Foundation helps ensure resources reach under-represented communities at greatest risk for disparities,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, president of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation and vice president of corporate citizenship for Tufts Health Plan. “Everyone has a voice; it’s important that we listen.”

The two Rhode Island recipients of grants were:

Local Initiative Support Corporation (Providence, R.I.) The Intergenerational Farmers’ Market Project—to address social isolation for older adults through relationship-building activities that capitalize on the integration of arts, culture and community resources across Rhode Island. Two-year grant for $120,000.  (For more information on this innovative program, read the ProJo feature on it!)

Rhode Island Parent Information Network (Cranston, R.I.) Own Your Health: A System to Support Evidence-Based Health Promotion in R.I. for Older People—to improve Rhode Island’s system for providing evidence-based programs for older adults and their caregivers. One-year grant for $63,085.

Rhode Island Council for the Humanities Launches New Rhode Tour

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Community Development, Creative Placemaking, Events, Member Highlights, Member News, Member Sponsored Events, Philanthropy

Rhode Island Council for the Humanities Launches New Rhode Tour

Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH), a GCRI member, continues expanding its “Rhode Tour” app and website that shares stories of local history, and provides thematic tours of significant sites throughout the state.  A joint initiative of RICH, Brown University’s John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, and the Rhode Island Historical Society, tours on the app include Black history, the culinary roots of the state’s food evolution, and forts used during the Revolutionary War. Some of the stories are about current landmarks, and some describe—in famous Rhode Island parlance—where or what a place used to be.

RICH will be launching the latest tour, Industrial Heritage Along the Woonasquatucket, at a Humanities Happy Hour on Thursday, November 16.  Jane Gerdard, historian and content developer for the Industrial Heritage Rhode Tour and Howie Sneider, Executive Director of The Steel Yard will offer brief remarks. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Download the free Rhode Tour app or visit the website

 

 

RI Council for the Humanities Announces Mini-Grants

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Creative Placemaking, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

GCRI Member Rhode Island Council for the Humanities has announced the six recipients of its May public humanities mini-grant cycle.  Each recipient received a $2,000 mini-grant.  Recipients included David H. Wells (Individual Researcher Grant for documentary film project about Annu Palakunnathu Matthew); Adopt a Doctor for a panel discussion of two Black Rhode Island artists; Firstworks for a panel discussion on the storytelling troupe Qyrq Qyz; Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts for the development of an interdisciplinary ArtsLiteracy curriculum; South County History Center for four public events around memorialization in Rhode Island; and West Broadway Neighborhood Association for the development of historic panels of Luongo Square in Providence.

 

 

 

 

Potential Elimination of Arts and Humanities Funding

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Collective Impact, Creative Placemaking, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy, Uncategorized

Potential Elimination of Arts and Humanities Funding

President Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget would eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities, in addition to numerous other cuts.  In response, GCRI member Rhode Island Council for the Humanities joined with Rhode Island State Council for the Arts to host a series of Cultural Conversations for the state’s cultural organizations and those concerned about the cuts to dialogue with Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation.

Julie Fry, president and CEO of California Humanities, responded to the proposed budget cuts with an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, detailing the value of the arts and humanities bring, far beyond their relatively small budgetary cost.  “Their budgets are very small, and together with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (also on the chopping block), they make up only 0.02 percent of the annual federal budget. However, their impact is exponentially large and has garnered bipartisan support across the country for their role in job creation and attracting businesses into communities,” she says.  Read more

For those interested in more information about cultural contributions to issues like economic development, be sure to check out the presentation slides from Wendy Bury’s presentation to the GCRI Roundtable on Collective Impact and Cross-Sector Partnerships this month.  Wendy is the Executive Director of the Southeastern Connecticut Cultural Coalition.

Rhode Island Council for the Humanities Impact Map

Fact vs. Fiction in Government Arts Funding

NEA Arts Funding Report

Study Showing How Arts and Culture Improve Health, Safety and Well Being