Photo: NorthernLights.MN, a St. Paul Knight Arts Challenge winner ATTEND AN INFORMATION SESSION ON THE KNIGHT ARTS CHALLENGE IN YOUR CITY:

“Upcoming workshops give behind-the-scenes info on Knight Arts Challenge” by Marika Lynch on Knight Blog, 3/25/2016

Shane Wynn had an idea.

Well, actually, the Akron, Ohio, resident has a lot of ideas. So many ideas that Wynn, a photographer, keeps two lists: one for problems she’d like to solve and one for projects she’d like to create. When she hits on an idea that intersects both lists, she knows she’s found something compelling.

“I start with the problem and then wait for something to intersect that works visually,” she said. “That way I am making something that someone will care about and I can exact some change.”

For her current idea, she saw an opportunity to photograph women leaders in Akron against a backdrop of the city’s underutilized public spaces. The project, called #overlooked, was enough to earn Wynn a $5,000 grant from the first Knight Arts Challenge Akron. In the fall, she will hang nine oversized portraits in vacant windows downtown.

Akron small-business owner Cristina González Alcalá in #overlooked series by Shane Wynn. HOW THEY DID IT:

4 tips for artists on working with local governments by J.C. Perez-Duthie, 4/18/16

Going from an arts startup to a leading organization by Anne Tschida, 4/11/16

Reaching new audiences with art by Ira Brooker, 4/6/16

Bringing art to nontraditional spaces by Ira Brooker, 4/20/16 

“I’ve been super excited since I found out about these challenges,” said Wynn. “It has been very hard to get funding as an independent artist. This has really given people an opportunity.”

When the Knight Arts Challenge first began in Miami in 2008, it, too, was an idea with hopes of a big impact. Knight Foundation decided to open up funding to everyone in the city with an idea for the arts, as a way to find the little nuggets of inspiration lurking inside the hearts and minds of residents.

Eight years later, the challenge has turned into a juggernaut that launches today in four cities: Akron, Ohio; Detroit; St. Paul and again Miami. In each, it has provided the fuel for grassroots projects and big ideas to grow. This year, submissions are being accepted through May 2. 

“Good ideas can come from anywhere, so we wanted to lower the barrier to access for applying,” said Victoria Rogers, Knight Foundation’s VP/arts.  “Art is so critical to our cities. The places where we want to live need to be vibrant and that vibrancy usually comes from the arts. So there need to be strong ecosystems: Cities need artists and makers and institutions that support them and funders who fund them and consumers of the arts.”

Above: Knight Foundation VP/Arts Victoria Rogers.

“Frankly you need each and everyone of those characteristics to have a successful city.”

Nearly 20,000 ideas have been submitted to the Knight Arts Challenge so far, and 661 winning projects have split almost $44 million.

And that has helped fuel the overall economic impact of the arts across the nation. In its most recent survey, Washington, D.C.-based Americans for the Arts found that the arts industry generated more than $135 billion in economic activity, which equates to 4 million full-time jobs and $87 billion in household income.

And this year, the Knight Foundation will spread $8 million among its winners. There application, available at KnightArts.org is only 150 words, and there are only three rules for applying:

·      The project must be about arts

·      It takes place in or benefits Akron, Detroit, Miami or St. Paul

·      Applicants must find other funding to match the Knight Foundation’s grant

Beyond those three stipulations, there are no limitations on how wild, how wacky, how large or even how small an idea can be. It could involve art installations on Detroit’s urban farms (Burnside Farms Detroit, winner 2015); or improvisational theater on the streets, homes and offices of St. Paul (Theater of Public Policy, 2015); or an exploration of fear in the media through sculptures of headless chickens called “withervanes” in Miami (Locust Projects, 2015); or refurbishing rail cars and shipping containers to be used as homes, galleries and studios in Akron (Akron Soul Train, 2016).

“The projects that are chosen are reflective of the nature of the city. To me that’s really important. That gets to the authenticity of the arts in these cities,” Rogers said. “Through the arts, our stories are told – our successes, our failures, our concerns, our joys. The arts are a great forum for bringing us together and connecting people to place.”

The Hyper Interactive Hip Hop Carnival from Detroit Lives!.

For Piper Carter, a Knight Arts Challenge winner in Detroit, the program has helped her find a way to develop and sustain ideas she was already passionate about.

Detroit winner Piper Carter.

“Knight recognizes the people who are already doing work here,” Carter said. “The morale becomes uplifted. They aren’t crowning people the king or queen of Detroit. I’m doing these projects anyway. I had been doing them for free, but the money helps to be able to create sustainable situations. There is a difference between being passionate and creating something sustainable.”

The first year she was involved with the challenge, she was part of a team that developed the Hyper Interactive Hip Hop Mardi Gras Parade, which merged technology, innovation and hip hop with the spirit of a Caribbean Mardi Gras festival. As a founder of a maker-space, Carter helped teach youth how to make electronic wearables for their costumes.

“They put lights inside the costumes and created a ‘call and response’ where if you push something, then this light would happen,” she said.

Her next win was for a women’s hip hop concert and conference that will use music to get women interested in technology. And in 2017, Knight Arts Challenge funding is allowing her to expand Detroit’s fifth-annual Dilla Youth Day, which focuses on hip hop, technology and engineering for youth.

“I love technology,” said Carter. “I’m interested in tech. I’m a supporter of women in tech, girls in tech. I’m interested because I love hip hop and the basis of hip hop is in technology. … I like doing these types of events with marginalized people because it’s very important to help cultivate a culture of hope and fullness.  That’s very key. Part of nurturing a culture of hopefulness is to be able to provide support for solutions. Art has to be there. We have to have color in our world.”

To find out more about how to apply in your city, visit KnightArts.org.

In each city there will be Community Conversations with Knight staff and past grantees offering tips and insights about the challenge. Find a list of those events, and RSVP in Akron, Detroit, Miami and St. Paul.