NEFA Receives $1.7M to Launch Creative City Initiative
The New England Foundation for the Arts has received a grant of $1,700,000 from the Barr Foundation to launch Creative City, a three-year pilot that will make grants to Boston artists to create works that integrate public participation. Creative City will provide new resources to artists to bring their creative voices to Boston neighborhoods, and to further enliven the places where they live, work, and play with culture and creativity.
Creative City will support individual artists, artist collectives, and artistic collaborations in all disciplines and with roots in diverse cultures, forms and aesthetics. Grants will range from $2,500-$10,000. An additional stipend of up to $2,500 will be available for community partners to offset presentation costs. The program will also offer grant workshops, technical assistance, and network building opportunities. The design of Creative City was informed by conversations with community-based artists, curators, producers, and presenters from across Boston, as well as a national review of artist support programs and creative place-making. Creative City will join NEFA’s portfolio of cultural investment initiatives in Boston and New England, which include the Fund for the Arts, the New England States Touring program, the Expeditions program, the CreativeGround online creative economy directory for New England, creative economy research publications like New England’s Creative Economy: Nonprofit Cultural Sector Impact, and the Creative Communities Exchange, a conference on New England creative economy projects.