DETROIT – March 5, 2015 – Beginning March 16, Detroiters can apply for a share of $3 million as part of the Knight Arts Challenge, which funds the best ideas for engaging and enriching Detroit through the arts. The deadline for the challenge, a project of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is April 13.
Knight Foundation will host a launch party and a series of community Q&A sessions throughout Detroit to answer applicants’ questions. At the launch event at Bert’s Marketplace in Eastern Market, applicants can get to know Knight staff and past winners, and learn more about the challenge. The community Q&As offer tips to applicants on creating a standout application, provide information on the challenge timeline and more.
“Whether you are an arts organization or a small collective, a longtime Detroiter or a more recent arrival, we want to hear from you,” said Dennis Scholl, Knight Foundation’s vice president for arts. “Our goal is to seek out the best grassroots ideas for bringing Detroit together through the arts.”
“Detroit artists continue to surprise us with their innovative ideas. We can’t wait to see what year three of the challenge will bring,” said Katy Locker, Detroit program director for Knight Foundation.
Anyone can apply. All it takes is 150 words to fill out the initial application, which will be available at knightarts.org and is simple to encourage submissions from many applicants.
There are only three rules for the challenge:
1) The idea must be about the arts;
2) The project must take place in or benefit Detroit;
3) The grant recipients must find funds to match Knight’s commitment.
Knight has received more than 2,200 ideas from the Detroit community since launching the challenge two years ago. In total, 114 projects have received almost $5 million in funding, including the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, which will create an arts incubator in Grand River; Ballet Folklorico Moyocoyani Izel, which will teach Detroiters the traditional Mexican dances of La Huasteca; Broadside Press, which is digitizing its historic collection of works by African-American authors; and the experimental band ADULT, which is hosting musicians in their Detroit home for a year to collaborate on an album that reflects the city.
The challenge is part of a $19.25 million investment in the Detroit arts that Knight Foundation announced in 2012. Knight Foundation has contributed $10.25 million to seven of Detroit’s premier arts institutions, including the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Arab American National Museum and the Detroit Institute of Arts.
The launch party will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 24 at Bert’s Marketplace in Eastern Market, 2727 Russell St.
The Community Q&A session schedule is below:
• Mon., March 23, 6 p.m.: Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, 13624 Michigan Ave.
• Tues., March 24, noon: Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit in Midtown, 4454 Woodward Ave. (a light lunch will be provided)
• Wed., March 25, 6 p.m.: Mexicantown Mercado in Southwest Detroit, 2826 Bagley Ave.
For updates, follow @knightarts and #knightarts on Twitter, @knightfdn on Instagram and Knight Foundation on Facebook.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.
Contacts:
Katy Locker, Program Director, Knight Arts Challenge Detroit, 313.964.1114, [email protected]
Peter Van Dyke, Berg Muirhead, 313.872.2202, [email protected]