Department Of Art, Culture + Tourism Selected As One Of 97 ArtPlace America Finalists
PROVIDENCE, RI – ArtPlace America has announced that the City of Providence’s Department of Art, Culture + Tourism is a finalist in the 2014 grant award competition for the city’s innovative Three Squares: Creative Placemaking at Providence’s Neighborhood-Based Community Transit Hubs submission. Providence is one of 97 finalists among 1,270 applications, and submitted a cooperative proposal with the city’s Department of Planning and Development, Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA), Providence Youth Art Collaborative, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Rhode Island Field Office.
The proposed project will commission arts-driven projects that encourage economic development and create opportunities for cultural participation in three community transit hub locations. Mobile art trucks, developed by the city’s youth arts organizations will connect the hubs and deliver pop-up art experiences to introduce new audiences to these areas. In each of these 97 proposed projects, the arts will play an important role as part of strategies to help shape their communities’ social, physical, and economic futures.
«I am thrilled that Providence is a finalist in this prestigious grant competition,» said Mayor Angel Taveras. «This grant builds on the important work that we’ve undertaken with our community partners, and advances the economic and social impact that arts have in our neighborhoods. This grant will assist in our neighborhood development plans and allow the city’s artists to have even more meaningful impacts in our community.»
The City’s proposal supports creative placemaking initiatives in Olneyville Square, Trinity Square and Columbus Square. These locations were determined by a multi-year planning study funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities.
The project proposes that each of the three squares will host an array of arts experiences throughout the grant period. Critically -acclaimed local artists will be commissioned to create signature artworks at each of the three hubs and youth arts organizations will create and program «art trucks» to transport residents through the culturally-diverse locations, delivering pop-up art experiences. Additionally, small business development tools will be provided to artist entrepreneurs.
The City’s proposal was not the only Providence proposal invited to be a finalist. Community Music Works also was invited to submit a full proposal for its neighborhood development project.
This year’s ArtPlace project finalists represent communities of all sizes from across the country. ArtPlace’s grantees will be announced in June 2014.
ArtPlace America
ArtPlace America is a collaboration among 14 foundations, eight federal agencies, and six financial institutions dedicated to strengthening the field of creative placemaking. Toward this end, ArtPlace has invested in projects in which artists and arts organizations play an explicit and central role in strategies to help shape their communities’ social, physical and economic futures. Participating foundations include the Barr Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, William Penn Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Surdna Foundation, and two anonymous donors. ArtPlace seeks advice and counsel from its close working relationships with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the White House Domestic Policy Council and Office of Management and Budget. ArtPlace has also been supported by a $12 million loan fund capitalized by Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife and Morgan Stanley.