The MSAC Mini-Grant program was established to provide immediate, responsive support to community-based artists and organizations undertaking arts events and programming that respond to the May uprising in Baltimore. The program highlights the critical role of arts and culture in community building efforts and as tools for healing. The program is made possible by funding by the Maryland State Arts Council and is administered by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts and the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.
“These first grantees highlight the critical role that the arts can play in community healing,” says Jeannie Howe, executive director of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. “GBCA and BOPA are honored to be administering this program and are grateful to the Maryland State Arts Council for recognizing the need to support grassroots arts programming and acting quickly.”
BOPA and GBCA have announced thirteen artists and organizations selected for 2015 Maryland State Arts Council Mini-Grants. Grants of $500 will be made to support grassroots arts activities responding to the recent uprising in Baltimore.
The inaugural round of MSAC Mini-Grants goes to:
Access Art: to support a STEAM-focused summer camp for youth in 5th-8th grades from West Baltimore.
Baltimore Clayworks: to support clay classes and workshops at Jubilee Arts.
Andria Cole: to support A Revolutionary Summer, an intensive critical reading and writing workshop series dedicated to the dissection of black feminine literary works geared for African American girls ages 14-18.
Dance And Bmore: to support four sessions of Forever Fit & Fun, a movement and music for stress relief class for the senior citizen residents of Penn North Plaza.
J.C. Faulk: to support Visions, an ongoing Sandtown neighborhood mural project.
Elisabeth Gambino: to support Our Baltimore, a project that teaches Baltimore City students about graphic design and social justice, resulting in the creation of student-produced poster multiples.
Tiffany D. Jones: to support SAFE LOVE, an art/healing project that invites community members to create prayer-like “shawls” during the exhibition “What Loves Looks Like” at MICA Place.
Abigail Kirsch: to support the creation, production and distribution of a student-led zine that will feature art, poetry and writing in response to the Baltimore Uprising.
The Living Well: to support the Photography Listening Exhibit FEAT, part of the Healing Circle Series, which presents photographs and videos taken before, during and after the Baltimore Uprising.
Christopher Metzger: to support the final stage of the Black Lives Matter Inside Out project, in which large black and white photos will be wheatpasted at sites at Johnston Square and Station North.
The New Baltimore Twilighters Marching Band: to support the community band’s purchase of uniforms, instruments and equipment.
Kwame Opare: to support #RebelRighteously, a live performance and video recording of a dance work to be performed at a location in West or Downtown Baltimore.
Make Studio: to support SEE / HEAR CHARM CITY, a collaborative art-making event in which community members are invited to express feelings and communicate messages about what Baltimore “is” and “should be.”
Soulful Emergence Art Gallery: to support JEWELS, a visual journaling program for youth in Baltimore’s disadvantaged neighborhoods.
