Community Arts

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COMMUNITY ARTS

Create Birmingham envisions a region where art plays a key role in creating a more inclusive and vibrant community. We believe that community arts projects should center artistic impact and experience while also advancing equity.

Each community arts project is an opportunity to bring local artists and community members together to create context and connection in the present while celebrating our rich history and shaping our shared future.

Create Birmingham also offers free professional development for local artists and nonprofits and serves as a key creative partner for local organizations, businesses, and municipalities. In addition, we provide resources and information on local, regional, and national opportunities for Birmingham area artists.

ARPA Creative Industries Recovery Grant Program

The ARPA Creative Industries Recovery Grant Program is made possible by the City of Birmingham’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation, with funds made available by the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Committee of the Birmingham City Council. Grants will provide financial assistance to creative ventures that were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty grants of $5,000 each will be awarded to City of Birmingham-based small businesses and nonprofits in the creative industries, including culture and heritage, culinary arts, design, media and film, performing arts, and visual arts and crafts. To be eligible, applicants must have annual revenue of under $1 million, have been operating in the City of Birmingham prior to March 2020, and provide documentation of financial hardship due to the pandemic. Applications are due June 30 by 11:59 CST, with notification in September and funds disbursed in December.

CITY OF BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY ARTS GRANT PROGRAM

This grant program will support four community arts collaborations that benefit the City of Birmingham with grants of $10,000 each. The application process will take place from June 28 - September 15, 2023, with notification in November. Funded projects will take place between January 1 and December 1, 2024. Each collaboration supported will be a partnership between an artist or arts organization and a community organization. Funded projects will use the arts to address an issue impacting the City of Birmingham and must be accessible to the general public. Collaborations eligible for funding include workshops, performances, concerts, festivals, demonstrations, screenings, and readings.

THE COMIC STRIP CHALLENGE

In partnership with CreateHubs leaders Eric Pertilla and Kristena Hatcher, we hold a monthly comic strip competition and publication for students in Jefferson County. This initiative encourages creatives of all ages to explore job opportunities and career pathways in creative industries. In an effort to better engage with role models in the industry, we are delighted to share all submissions with an outstanding group of industry leaders who will serve as judges. Using a Four-Panel Comic Strip template, we encourage everyone to tell a story with a new prompt every month, with a $50 prize offered in each of the three age group categories: 8-12,13-16, & 17+.

coffee with creatives

Join us for Coffee with Creatives, an in-person morning meet-up for Birmingham’s creative community! Brew new ideas, forge collaborations, and gain insight from artists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. Meet-ups will take place once a quarter on Friday mornings from 8:30 - 10:00 am. Our first gathering on Friday, April 14 was hosted by Red Mountain Theatre. Our guest presenter was Carey Fountain, multi-disciplinary artist and founder of The Black Cherry Tree Project. The conversation centered around building community by breaking out of our silos. This program is free and open to the public. Capacity is capped at 75 participants, so make sure to register in advance. Our next Coffee with Creatives will be Friday, August 11th, with more details coming soon.

THE CURB MAKERS MARKET IN TRUSSVILLE

Create Birmingham is partnering with The Curb to present a community arts event and makers market, showcasing outstanding creative work by artists and makers from across the area in Trussville. We co-hosted two markets in 2022 to support artists and makers, one on Saturday, June 4th and one on Friday, November 25th. Selected artists will receive mini-grants ranging from $150-$500 to underwrite their costs for participating in the market. This year, we will co-host one market during the holiday season. The new market date and the application for interested artists and makers will be announced in July.

ALABAMA PREMIERE of Thumbs Up for Mother Universe: Stories from the Life of Lonnie Holley, a Film by George King

In 2022, in partnership with the Birmingham Museum of Art, we presented the Alabama premiere of this documentary, which traces the dramatic life of American artist Lonnie Holley from his impoverished beginnings and educational opportunities to becoming a revered visual artist and musician. The film also reveals Holley’s creative process—his insights into conservation, ecology, and the environment, and his sources of deep inspiration rooted in the spirit, southern life, and African American history and culture.

ASPHALT ART INITIATIVE IN SMITHFIELD

Create Birmingham served as the arts partner for the City of Birmingham on a public art project in the Smithfield neighborhood to enhance the intersection of 8th Avenue West and Center Street, working in collaboration with Smithfield stakeholders, the Smithfield Public Library, and local visual artist Lydia Walker. Made possible by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies' Asphalt Art Initiative, the collaborative installation of a new intersection mural took place on Saturday, October 15th, with a new sidewalk mural and improved lighting added to the Library Plaza in 2023.