BIRMINGHAM, AL – Create Birmingham, in partnership with the City of Birmingham, is pleased to announce the second year of the City of Birmingham Community Arts Grant Program.
This grant program, administered by Create Birmingham on behalf of the City of Birmingham, will once again provide funding to four community arts collaborations that benefit Birmingham residents with grants of $10,000 each. Each collaboration supported will be a partnership between an artist or arts organization and a community organization from a non-arts sector.
Funded projects will use the arts to address an issue impacting the City of Birmingham, will take place in one or more of the City of Birmingham’s 23 communities and 99 neighborhoods, and will be accessible to the public. The grant portal for the two-step application process is now open, with Eligibility Checks due August 18 and applications for eligible collaborations due September 15.
Collaborations eligible for funding include workshops, performances, concerts, festivals, demonstrations, screenings, and readings. Projects may be first-time collaborations or continuations of existing work. Projects must take place between January 1 and December 1, 2024. Applications will be reviewed by a community panel consisting of one representative from each of the City of Birmingham’s nine districts, selected by their respective Birmingham City Council members.
Meghann Bridgeman, President and CEO of Create Birmingham, says “The arts play a valuable role in neighborhoods across the City of Birmingham, and artists and arts organizations bring unique talents, insights, and inspiration when they partner across sectors to address the issues impacting Birmingham residents. We are proud to support this kind of innovative cross-sector collaboration through a second year of the Community Arts Grant Program.”
In its first year, this grant program provided funding for 2023 partnerships between Bare Hands, Inc and the Woodlawn Neighborhood Association, Magic City Poetry Festival and St. John AME Church, Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Central Alabama and St. Paul United Methodist Church, and Sidewalk Film Center + Cinema and the Birmingham Public Library Association.
Bare Hands Executive Director Aimee Castro adds, “With our 2023 Community Arts grant from the City of Birmingham, Bare Hands, in partnership with the Woodlawn Neighborhood Association, will be able to provide an all-ages immersive art experience and give participants the opportunity to express themselves in creative, personal, and meaningful ways. Renowned local muralist Dewon Moton will also partner with us to create a permanent, interactive mural for our annual Día de Los Muertos celebration.”
Complete eligibility requirements, guidelines, and the application form can be found on Create Birmingham’s website at createbirmingham.org.
