$500,000 in ARPA Funds Awarded to12 Providence Arts Nonprofits

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

Twelve arts and/or culture-based non-profit organizations have been awarded a total of $500,000 in grant funding through the Providence American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Additionally, the City celebrated the continued prioritization of public art, while also recognizing its Sidewalk Tattoo project.

The 12 non-profits selected for grant funding through the ARPA Special Events Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) are Providence Children’s Film Festival, DESIGNxRI, Southside Community Land Trust, Educational Center of Arts and Sciences (ECAS), The Steel Yard, FirstWorks, Federal Hill Commerce Association, D’High Class Human Development Agency, Rhode Island Latino Arts (RILA), Oasis International, the Wilbury Theatre Group, and Quisqueya in Action, Inc.

Applicants were able to apply for up to $50,000 of demonstrated need. To be eligible for funding, these Providence-based, art and culture-based organizations had to (1) currently provide public special events programming and (2) have experienced negative impacts or disproportionate impacts of the pandemic as demonstrated by a year-to-year financial comparison with the fiscal year ending prior to March 2020.

Additionally, the Department of Art, Culture, + Tourism celebrated its the Sidewalk Tattoo public art program, made possible in part by the Art in City Life Ordinance. In early 2021, ACT and the Art in City Life Commission invited RI-based writers and artists to submit poetry or word-based art for permanent display on City sidewalks. Following the open call, the Art in City Life Commission awarded 30 artists $1,000 each, for a total of 30 poems or designs. The awarded poems were printed on reusable stamps, and the first two poems were installed into newly-repaired sidewalks in September of 2022. The first two tattoo installations can be found on Sharon Street, with many more to be applied in the future as funding and site conditions allow.

For more information on public art in Providence, please visit ACT’s website.

Leaders of 10 Local Organizations Chosen for New Nonprofit Innovation Lab

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Children & Youth, Community Development, Creative Placemaking, Education, Equity, Health and Wellness, Member Highlights, Member News, Nonprofit Capacity Building, Philanthropy

The leaders of 10 local organizations have been selected as fellows to participate in the latest Nonprofit Innovation Lab. This marks the third cohort of the joint effort of United Way of Rhode Island and Social Enterprise Greenhouse (SEG) that launched in 2020. The unique program challenges organizations to think outside the box to develop new solutions to pressing social issues, and offers an opportunity to secure seed funding to bring those ideas to life.

With the Nonprofit Innovation Lab, United Way and SEG help to accelerate organizations’ ability to hone and implement unique ideas with the potential to create positive social impact. The effort pairs each fellow with a custom team of coaches and provides the knowledge, resources, and networking opportunities that help turn transformative ideas into reality. The months-long program culminates with “Sparked!”, a “Shark Tank”-like presentation broadcast on Rhode Island PBS where fellows compete for $90,000 in seed funding and other in-kind services and supports. The fellows selected and their organizations are:

  • Christopher Antao, Gnome Surf
  • Elizabeth Cunha, The Center for Dynamic Learning
  • Eugenio Fernandez, Melior
  • Bior Guigni, Beat the Streets New England
  • Jody Jencks, Meeting Street
  • Helene Miller, The Partnership for Providence Parks, Recreation Centers, and Streetscapes (P3)
  • James Monteiro, Reentry Campus Program
  • Nicole O’Malley, Hands in Harmony
  • Valerie Tutson, Rhode Island Black Storytellers
  • Kristen Williams, Riverzedge Arts
  • Among the projects selected for advancement are Meeting Street’s vision to create a Teacher’s Assistant Apprenticeship Program to address both an ongoing labor shortage and the longstanding underrepresentation of minorities in the field; Hands in Harmony developing a specialized Mental Health and Music Wellness program to decrease stress and improve healthcare utilization; and Riverzedge Arts expanding its art and entrepreneurial programming to serve adults while simultaneously growing its career development and employment offerings for at-risk youth.

 

Olneyville Programs Awarded $182,708 in Grants by United Way of Rhode Island

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Basic Need, Children & Youth, Community Development, Creative Placemaking, Education, Equity, Health and Wellness, Housing and Homelessness, Immigrants and Refugees, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

Through its Olneyville Community Fund, United Way of Rhode Island has awarded $182,708 in grants to programs whose work is strengthening the Providence neighborhood it calls home. The investments focus on creating opportunities for all by improving access to services for residents, enhancing educational offerings for children through adults, and increasing nonprofit capacity to meet community need. Eleven organizations received funding.

Grantees include Amenity Aid, Children’s Friend, Clínica Esperanza/Hope Clinic, Community Libraries of Providence, FirstWorks, Inspiring Minds, Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island, Olneyville Neighborhood Association, Project 401, Providence Promise, and Teatro ECAS.

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Champlin Foundation Awards $9.6 Million to Nonprofits Statewide

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Basic Need, Children & Youth, Creative Placemaking, Equity, Health and Wellness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

The Champlin Foundation announced more than $9.6 million in capital funding to 87 nonprofit organizations across the state.  Nonprofits receiving funding in this cycle serve Rhode Islanders of all ages across youth services, healthcare, arts and culture, and beyond. Among the recipients are 12 first-time grantees. 

The Champlin Foundation specifically supports capital improvements across nine areas of focus: arts and culture, conservation and parks, education, healthcare, historic preservation and heritage, libraries, social services, youth services, and welfare of animals. Every area is represented in this round of funding. Total giving by the Foundation will be supplemented with a second round of grants in fall 2022. 

The funding includes three $1 million awards, given to the Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum, Crossroads Rhode Island, and the Boys and Girls Club of Providence.   It is unusual for Champlin to award three grants of this size in one cycle, but it speaks to both the tremendous need in the nonprofit community and the leadership and commitment of the grantees.  

The Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum is preparing to build a comprehensive, four-building campus on 18 acres of rural University of Rhode Island land in South Kingstown that honors the region’s Indigenous history with a new museum, robust archives, a maker’s space, as well as a building for educational programming. 

In the face of an urgent statewide affordable housing crisis, Champlin awarded a $1 million grant to Crossroads Rhode Island, the leading provider of homeless services. The organization’s main headquarters, which is the epicenter of service and support for the more than 1,100 Rhode Islanders who face housing insecurity on any given day, is in need of significant exterior restoration and repair.  

The third and final $1 million grant in this cycle is going to the Boys and Girls Club of Providence, which plans to renovate and expand its Wanskuck Clubhouse. The branch opened in 1927 and has been providing recreational activities and educational programming to the young people of the city’s North End ever since. The Boys and Girls Club of Providence is also a longstanding grantee, having received the first of what has been an annual grant from The Champlin Foundation in 1958. 

In addition to the three mentioned, grants supporting other transformational projects were awarded to Teatro ECAS, which is building out a larger theater in the Valley Arts District; Save the Bay, which is moving its Newport aquarium to a greatly expanded new Downtown space; Revive the Roots in Smithfield, which is acquiring land and the historic Mowry house; and a grant to CCRI that will completely update the Dental Hygiene program’s equipment at the Lincoln campus.  

 The full list of grantees and their awards is available on the Champlin website. 

RISCA, RI Arts Organizations Awarded Over $900,000 from NEA

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

As part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ $91 million grantmaking initiative (Arts Projects, Our Town, and State and Regional Partnerships),  Rhode Island State Council of the Arts and five local nonprofits received a total of almost $990,000.

Nonprofit recipients were Community MusicWorks, Brown University, First Works, Newport Music Festival, and AS220.

Rhode Island Foundation’s Black Philanthropy Bannister Fund Awards $105,000 in Grants

by Posted in Children & Youth, Creative Placemaking, Education, Equity, Health and Wellness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

The Rhode Island Foundation has awarded $105,000 in grants to nonprofits serving the state’s Black community through its Black Philanthropy Bannister Fund.

The fund supports nonprofits that offer youth development and mentoring, promote the history and achievements of Blacks in Rhode Island, preserve the culture of the Black community and strive to uplift low-income Black Rhode Islanders.

Fifteen organizations received grants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.  Recipients include:

  • Mixed Magic Theatre & Cultural Events
  • YMCA of Pawtucket
  • Rhode Island Slave History Medallions
  • AS220
  • College Visions
  • The Everett School
  • The John Hope Settlement House
  • A Leadership Journey
  • Mt. Hope Learning Center
  • New Bridges for Haitian Success
  • New Urban Arts
  • The Nonviolence Institute
  • Oasis International
  • Providence Promise
  • Rhode Island Black Storytellers

The fund also offers scholarships for Black students who are pursuing or advancing a career in health care in college or a technical school. Last year, the fund awarded $55,300 to 24 recipients. The deadline to apply for 2022 scholarship assistance is April 18.

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RI State Council on the Arts Awards 156 Grants Totaling Over $800,000

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

Over 150 arts organizations in Rhode Island received grants from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) totaling $878,942 in funding.

Funding for the grants came from the General Assembly and federal funds through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).  Most required a match of contributions from businesses, individuals, and from ticket sales.

Fifty two of the grants went to individual artists, and the rest went to arts and cultural organizations, arts education programs, teaching artists in healthcare and education, culture workers, and other community projects.

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RISCA Distributes COVID-19 Relief Grants to Arts Community

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Children & Youth, Creative Placemaking, Disaster Philanthropy, Health and Wellness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy

The RI State Council on the Arts (RISCA) has awarded close to $1 million in Covid Relief Funds (CRF) to artists, professional arts education associations, and arts and culture organizations. These grants announced today provide badly needed assistance to organizations, artists and arts educators who continue to experience economic hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

or artists, the CRF assistance is being distributed through the Rhode Island Artist Relief Fund, a charitable fund set up by RISCA to help artists who have lost income due to the pandemic. A total of $321,200 was divided up into grants and distributed to 390 artists.

For arts and culture organizations, and arts education associations, the funds are being dispersed directly through RISCA.

In addition to artists, and arts and culture organizations, grant recipients include 11 organizations associated with the Rhode Island Expansion Arts Program (RIEAP) and seven culturally specific nonprofits. RIEAP is a partnership among RISCA, RI Council for the Humanities (RICH) and Rhode Island Foundation to support community-based, culturally diverse arts and cultural organizations.

The grants were specifically designed to save jobs, help cover revenue losses and additional COVID-19 costs incurred in 2020.

State Arts Council Awards $750,000 in Grants to Artists, Arts Organizations

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

Arts and culture organizations, arts education programs, teaching artists in healthcare, folk artists and related community projects received $750,192 in grants distributed by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA). These 120 grants, approved by the Arts Council’s Board in December, will support arts and cultural activities throughout the state during this fiscal year.

These grants depend on support from the Rhode Island General Assembly and federally funded National Endowment for the Arts, in addition to matching dollars raised through contributions from businesses, individuals and earned income from ticket sales and admissions.

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Rhode Island Foundation Awards $285,000 to Newport County Nonprofits

by Posted in Arts & Culture, Basic Need, Children & Youth, Community Development, Creative Placemaking, Education, Equity, Health and Wellness, Member Highlights, Member News, Philanthropy, Uncategorized

The Rhode Island Foundation’s Newport County Fund (NCF} offered grants of up $10,000 to 40 organizations in Newport County to develop new programs, to strengthen or expand established programs and for municipal planning or leadership. In making the funding decisions, the Foundation worked with an advisory committee comprised of residents from every community in Newport County. In total, $285,000 in grants were awarded.

“From protecting the environment to underwriting health and job readiness programs, we are fortunate to partner with organizations that are improving lives here in Newport County,” said Neil D. Steinberg, the Foundation’s president and CEO. “We are thankful for the donors who make these partnerships possible.”

Awardees included Child & Family, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, Newport Mental Health, Aquidneck Community Table, Baby Steps, Books are Wings, Boys and Girls Clubs of Newport County, Clean Ocean Access, Day One in Middletown, Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England, God’s Community Garden, Island Moving Company, Jamestown Arts Center, Katie Brown Educational Program, Little Compton Community Center, Little Compton Historical Society, Meals on Wheels, MENTOR Rhode Island, Newport Community School, Newport County YMCA, Newport Gulls, the Newport Music Festival, the Newport Partnership for Families, Newport Working Cities, Rhode Island Black Storytellers, Salvation Army, Save The Bay, the Seamen’s Church Institute, Special Olympics Rhode Island, the Star Kids Scholarship Program, Turning Around Ministries, Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice, and Women’s Resource Center