Providence Awarded $300,000 Grant from ArtPlace America

Providence Awarded $300,000 Grant from ArtPlace America

Mayor Jorge Elorza has announced that the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism in partnership with Rhode Island LISC is one of 38 recipients of ArtPlace America's 2015 National Grants Program and will receive a $300,000 grant.

The grant will go toward helping to bring arts and culture into Providence and into the field of community planning and development. 

“I am excited to share this great news with our community. We have seen arts and culture transform our city and we know that cultural expression in our neighborhoods is just as important as in downtown. I am grateful ArtPlace America has decided to join our efforts by helping provide this opportunity to improve Trinity Square," said Mayor Elorza.

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Where the Money Will Go

The Department of Art, Culture + Tourism along with RI LISC will use the money to make improvements to the Grace Church Cemetery and to build programs at Southside Cultural Center.

ArtPlace selected the City of Providence and RI LISC from a pool of almost 1,300 applicants.

“Investing in and supporting the arts have a profound impact on the social, physical, and economic futures of communities. Projects like these demonstrate how imaginative and committed people are when it comes to enhancing their communities with creative interventions and thoughtful practices," said ArtPlace executive director Jamie Bennett.

Click here for a full list of 2015 ArtPlace grantees.

Community Innovation Funding

Providence has also been selected as one of two U.S. cities to pilot the Community Innovation Lab framework, a new approach to solving tough social problems by deeply integrating artists and artistic experience into a rigorously designed and facilitated process. 

The Lab framework was developed by EmcArts, a nationally recognized service organization for adaptive change, to bring together the best from the fields of social innovation labs and creative placemaking. Focused on public safety in Trinity Square, the Lab will engage a diverse, cross-sector group of stakeholders, including city agencies, community organizers, nonprofit service providers, business leaders, artists and cultural organizations to co-create innovative strategies for systemic change.