Starting next month, Denver arts nonprofits can apply for individual grants of up $50,000 under a pilot program called Arts in Society, organizers announced this week.
The program, which will hand out more than $400,000 per year in its first two years, is a joint venture of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation and the Hemera Foundation and will be administered by RedLine Contemporary Art Center, said Louise Martorano, executive director of RedLine.
True to its name, Arts in Society will take cues from a growing number of local and national “cross sector” programs that combine “artistic excellence with socially relevant issues,” Martorano said.
“That’s where artists are most brilliant, bringing the creative process to issues like the environment, homelessness, incarceration or gun violence,” she said. “And especially in Denver, that includes things like gentrification, housing and even marijuana legalization.”
Martorano cited Houston’s Project Row Houses, Chicago professor Theaster Gates‘ Rebuild Foundation and the work of New York City’s Mel Chin as national examples.
“(Bonfils CEO) Gary Steuer and (Hemera arts director) Tatiana Hernandez both came to Colorado from the East Coast, where this type of work was very much in line with other foundations they worked in,” Martorano said.
She also pointed to Colorado projects such as Agustina Woodgate’s “Hopscotch Denver,” which connected neighborhoods like Globeville and Sun Valley to Capitol Hill in 2015, and Boulder’s “Flood Project” as inspiration.
A selection panel will hand out Arts in Society grants ranging from $10,000-$50,000 to between 10 and 15 artists or groups in 2017-18, the pilot years of the project.
That’s welcome news for Denver arts nonprofits, which rely on funds from the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) and other sources to stay afloat. Arts in Society’s annual funding of $400,000 is only a sliver of SCFD’s $50 million annual budget, but a few thousand dollars can mean the difference between life and death for many arts organizations.
“In some ways we’re looking for a social return on investment versus a financial return,” Martorano said. “With socially engaged art practice, you really look for how it impacts a community, and how it brings visibility to social challenges in a new way.”
The official launch, scheduled for Aug. 10, will coincide with RedLine’s “48 Hours of Socially-Engaged Art & Conversation Summit” at the center, 2350 Arapahoe St. Informational sessions will be held at RedLine from 5:30-7 p.m. on Sept. 1, and 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Sept. 11.
Letters of intent for projects during the first year of the program are due on Sept. 26, with finalists contacted in November to submit full proposals by Jan. 16, 2017. The “Arts in Society” web site goes live on Aug. 10 and the portal for applications opens Aug. 15.
Applicants can be arts organizations, human service providers, nonprofits or individual artists.
