Thursday’s announcement of a $717,500 Knight Arts grant is front-page news in today’s Akron Beacon Journal. Read below for the highlights and click here for the full article.

Akron’s arts community got a financial boost Thursday courtesy of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The foundation announced eight grants totaling $717,500.

The city’s arts community turned out in full force on the second floor of the Akron Area Arts Alliance, originally an Akron Beacon Journal newsroom, to hear Dennis Scholl, Knight Foundation vice president of arts, detail how the grants were allocated.

Scholl said the foundation, through its Akron offices headed by Jennifer Thomas, has kept track of the growth of local arts groups and the programs they have developed. The grants, Scholl said, are ”a chance to reward them for their efforts.”

”We believe that the arts do play a big role in transforming communities,” Scholl said. ”We looked at projects that could lift these organizations to the next level.”

Similar grants are being made to cultural groups in seven other cities where the Knight Foundation has offices: Charlotte, N.C.; Detroit; Miami; Macon, Ga.; Philadelphia; San Jose, Calif.; and St. Paul, Minn. The cities are home to former Knight newspapers.