Macon Film buffs, theater lovers, fans of African American art and others will benefit from projects put on by six cultural groups with $77,000 in Knight funding, the foundation announced today.

The grants are among the first in Knight Foundation’s new national arts program, which focuses on Macon and seven other communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers.

‘In Macon, Knight Foundation works to help create a sense of place and belonging through initiatives that promote an informed and engaged Bibb County,’ said Beverly Blake, Knight Foundation’s Macon program director. ‘Nothing engages a community like the arts.’

The first seven awards and projects include:

Macon Film Festival ($20,000): To help the sixth annual festival grow, attract higher quality films and expand community outreach and workshops.

Macon Symphony Orchestra ($15,000): To bring artists out of performance halls and into the streets with a series of ‘Random Acts of Culture’ in everyday places. The Knight Foundation series is producing 1,000 Random Acts of Culture nationwide over the next three years.

Capitol Theatre ($10,000): To provide the opportunity for new and emerging local artists to perform in the Capitol Theatre through reduced facility rental fees.

Macon Arts Alliance ($10,000): To raise the profile of pottery from central Georgia through enhanced marketing for the Fired Works Regional Ceramics Exhibit and Sale, the largest exhibit of functional and sculptural pottery in Georgia.

Tubman African American Museum ($10,000): To expand the reach of the museum’s collection by digitally photographing 100 important works and making them available online. Currently, only 15 percent of the museum’s collection is on display at one time.

Tubman African American Museum ($6,000): To bring spoken word art to a wider audience through events and community workshops run by the group Poetic Peace.

Hayiya Dance Theatre ($6,000): To expand appreciation for African dance by helping the theater enhance programming and community outreach.

Read more in the Macon Telegraph and in today’s release. Find out more about Knight Foundation’s national arts program at KnightArts.org,