Feb. 3, 2016 — The Knight Arts Challenge will open for submissions April 4, offering a share of $8 million to the best ideas for the arts in four cities: Miami, Detroit, St. Paul and Akron. A project of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the challenge is open to everyone with an idea for engaging and enriching these four communities through the arts.
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“Coming soon: the Knight Arts Challenge” on Knight Blog by Marika Lynch, 2/3/2016
“The Knight Arts Challenge is an opportunity for anyone to pursue his or her artistic dreams,” said Victoria Rogers, vice president for arts at Knight Foundation. “We want hear your big ideas that can help inspire, reflect and engage your community.”
Applying is easy. All it takes is 150 words to fill out the initial application, which will be available at knightarts.org April 4 – May 2 and is deliberately designed to be user-friendly to encourage a wide range of applicants.
There are only three rules for submissions:
1) The idea must be about the arts.
2) The project must take place in or benefit Miami, Detroit, St. Paul or Akron.
3) The grant recipients must find funds to match Knight’s commitment.
Knight Foundation will host community conversations in each city in the coming months with Knight staff and past winners to help answer questions about the challenge and guide applicants. A schedule is forthcoming.
Many previous Knight Arts Challenge winners have been small, grassroots efforts that reflect their particular city. They include: In Miami, a performance that combines traditional Indian dance with Afro-Cuban poetry, and an artist residency that contemplates climate change; In St. Paul, a public light art project on the plume of the city’s steam power plant; in Detroit, a project to revive the Jit, the city’s 1970s dance craze, through a community performance by the dance’s creators.
For Knight Arts Challenge updates, follow #knightarts and @knightfdn on Twitter and 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:Anusha Alikhan, Knight Foundation communications director, 305-908-2646, [email protected]