Arts
Knight Foundation awards infuse Philadelphia arts scene with $2.7 million
Crossposted from KnightArts.org
2011 marks the inaugural year of the Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia, our three-year, $9 million initiative to fund the best ideas for the arts in Philadelphia. Today, we’re pleased to announce the thirty-six winners receiving $2.7 million in new funding.
Like you, we believe the arts inspire and enrich communities. Last fall, we asked the community one simple question: “What’s your best idea for the arts in Philadelphia?” The response was a record-setting 1,752 applications from a wide range of independent artists, organizations, community groups and businesses, demonstrating the city’s vibrant creativity and passion for the arts.
We congratulate the winners and thank everyone who submitted an idea. Applications for year two will open this fall, and we look forward to seeing even more great ideas from the Philadelphia community!
Read on below for the full list of winners and their inspiring ideas.Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia 2011 Winners
- Project: RAAMP It Up Wednesdays
- Recipient: African American Museum in Philadelphia
- Award: $45,000
- To showcase local artists by presenting commissioned dance and gospel performances through free weekly concerts at the museum’s Seventh Street Plaza.
- Project: Arab Music Concert Series
- Recipient: Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture
- Award: $50,000
- To promote cross-cultural understanding and appreciation for Arab music by creating a unique concert series with a resident ensemble
- Project: Spiritual Voyages Festival
- Recipient: Astral Artists
- Award: $35,000
- To spotlight distinctive voices in classical music by celebrating composers who are exploring their African-, Asian- and Latin-American cultures through their music
- Project: eXpanding the eXperience of BalletX
- Recipient: BalletX
- Award: $13,000
- To expand the cultural experience of ballet audiences with unexpected dance, comedy, music and spoken word during BalletX’s seasonal performances
- Project: You CAN take it with you!
- Recipient: The Barnes Foundation
- Award: $120,000
- To expand the reach of the foundation’s art collection by creating an app and a printed guide that highlight and contextualize works
- Project: iConduct!
- Recipient: Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra
- Award: $25,000
- To engage audiences in classical music by creating a free summer series where participants take part in fun, mini-conducting lessons in front of professional musicians and a live audience
- Project: City Hall Presents
- Recipient: City of Philadelphia, Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy
- Award: $100,000
- To strengthen City Hall’s role as a cultural center by presenting free music, theater, dance and spoken word performances and film screenings in the building’s indoor and outdoor spaces
- Project: A Portable Floor for Dance in Public Places
- Recipient: Dance/USA Philadelphia
- Award: $45,000
- To bring live dance performances to broader audiences by making available a portable dance floor that can be used by companies throughout the region at festivals and other events
- Project: Philadelphia Sculpture Gym
- Recipient: Darla Jackson
- Award: $20,000
- To help Philadelphia sculptors create their works safely by creating a “sculpture gym” where artists can use heavy-duty tools, have storage space and get one-on-one help with projects
- Project: Dance Africa Philadelphia!
- Recipient: District One Community Education Center
- Award: $50,000
- To celebrate the African arts by bringing the renowned festival Dance Africa to Philadelphia
- Project: Open Air
- Recipient: Fairmount Park Art Association
- Award: $250,000
- To engage residents in creating a world premiere public art event by collectively transforming the night sky with roving searchlights controlled by an app on their smart phones
- Project: Fresh Artists Studio
- Recipient: Fresh Artists
- Award: $75,000
- To engage inner city youth in the arts by creating a print studio with teen apprentices
- Project: 10th Grade “Passport to the Arts”
- Recipient: Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance
- Award: $75,000
- To inspire a life-long engagement with the arts by giving Philadelphia 10th graders free admission to participating cultural institutions for one year
- Project: Hidden City Philadelphia Festival 2013
- Recipient: Hidden City Philadelphia
- Award: $100,000
- To reconnect residents and visitors to Philadelphia’s urban landscape with an interactive festival that commissions temporary, site-specific art projects at historic landmarks
- Project: Musehouse: A Center for the Literary Arts
- Recipient: Kathleen Bonanno
- Award: $50,000
- To promote the creation and appreciation of poetry, plays and performance works by opening Musehouse: A Center for the Literary Arts in the city’s Mount Airy neighborhood
- Project: Collaborative Connections
- Recipient: LiveConnections.org
- Award: $100,000
- To illustrate how music connects cultures by commissioning innovative concerts for Philadelphia’s World Café Live that will be simulcast to new audiences
- Project: Cross-Over Classical
- Recipient: Mann Center for the Performing Arts
- Award: $200,000
- To attract new audiences to classical music by bridging genres and generations with a Cross-Over Classical summer series in a relaxed outdoor setting
- Project: Sound and Fury
- Recipient: Mighty Writers
- Award: $50,000
- To inspire community pride by creating Sound and Fury, an audio documentary, interactive website and public panel discussions about the role of black Philadelphia radio from the 1950s to the 1980s
- Project: Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby
- Recipient: New Kensington Community Development Corporation
- Award: $20,000
- To strengthen the cultural and economic fabric of the Kensington community by celebrating the talents of local artists at the annual Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby
- Project: The Garden
- Recipient: Nichole Canuso Dance Company
- Award: $50,000
- To broaden people’s understanding of art and dance by turning the audience into a participant in an aural and visual performance journey called The Garden
- Project: Opening Night Philadelphia
- Recipient: Opera Company of Philadelphia
- Award: $150,000
- To unite Philadelphia in a celebration of arts and culture by displaying – on a giant video screen at Independence Mall – the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s opening night performance of Bizet’s Carmen
- Project: Philadelphia Film Festival Short Film Competition
- Recipient: Philadelphia Film Society
- Award: $30,000
- To promote Philadelphia’s film industry by organizing a contest where filmmakers incorporate one of 20 iconic local symbols in a short film
- Project: The Live Arts Festival presents SCRATCH Night
- Recipient: Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe
- Award: $50,000
- To nurture emerging artists by creating a salon night in the festival’s new headquarters where artists will present short excerpts of their work
- Project: Favelas to Philly
- Recipient: Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
- Award: $100,000
- To help transform the urban landscape by hiring a world-renowned team of street artists to develop a major project in Philadelphia
- Project: iNotes
- Recipient: The Philadelphia Orchestra Association
- Award: $150,000
- To expand concert content and accessibility by creating smart phone apps that supply real-time context about live performances
- Project: PTC@PLAY
- Recipient: Philadelphia Theatre Company
- Award: $75,000
- To enhance Philadelphia’s reputation as a leader in the development of new plays by producing an annual festival of new works
- Project: Tune Up Philly
- Recipient: Philadelphia Youth Orchestra
- Award: $150,000
- To immerse communities in orchestral music by providing daily after-school music instruction and frequent community performances for elementary school students in Southwest Philadelphia
- Project: Philly Youth Poetry Movement
- Recipient: Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement
- Award: $40,000
- To nurture young residents through poetry by establishing a gathering space offering cultural workshops, as well as homework tutoring and life-skills mentoring
- Project: The Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training
- Recipient: Pig Iron Theatre Company
- Award: $150,000
- To strengthen the contemporary performing arts scene by launching a two-year training program for actors and directors
- Project: Cafe under the Stars: Spotlighting Arts in the Barrio
- Recipient: Taller Puertorriqueño
- Award: $75,000
- To create personal cultural experiences that connect audiences across cultures by producing a series of monthly outdoor performances in the heart of Latino Philadelphia
- Project: Arts Wide Open in North Philadelphia, Anchor of the Avenue of the Arts
- Recipient: Temple Performing Arts Center
- Award: $20,000
- To involve public school children in the arts by exposing them to performances and having them interact with artists
- Project: First Friday Art Safari, with Libby and Roberta
- Recipient: theartblog.org
- Award: $7,000
- To introduce the art of Philadelphia’s geographically scattered galleries to a wider audience through a series of monthly tours by van that will be videotaped for later airing
- Project: Fill in the Blanks with Theatre
- Recipient: Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia
- Award: $100,000
- To expand participation in Philly’s theatrical arts by launching a new audience engagement initiative that helps actors interact with residents in their everyday lives
- Project: a Play, a Pie and a Pint
- Recipient: Tiny Dynamite Productions
- Award: $25,000
- To broaden theater audiences by producing a Play, a Pie and a Pint, a U.K. performance phenomenon where residents can stop by after work to enjoy a one-act play, a pie and a beverage for a low ticket price
- Project: Spectrum
- Recipient: Vox Populi
- Award: $40,000
- To inspire the community by offering an innovative arts series, Spectrum, that crosses the traditional boundaries of visual art, performance, music, film, video, dance and theater
- Project: Building Audiences for Philadelphia’s Vibrant Scene of Local Musicians
- Recipient: WXPN Radio, University of Pennsylvania
- Award: $50,000
- To build audiences and appreciation for Philadelphia’s vibrant music scene by creating a virtual space for the local music community and producing a concert series and a collection of web-based musical recordings and videos
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