With “Our Town,” NEA funds livability

Fifty-one communities across the US have won National Endowment for the Arts “Our Town” grants for a wide range of projects — from construction of the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in downtown Wilson, North Carolina, to the exhibition of art works in a three-square-mile area of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Altogether, $6.575 million in grants were announced in the inaugural round of Our Town. NEA says the funds are intended “to strengthen the arts while shaping the social, physical, and economic characters of their neighborhoods, towns, cities, and regions.” The grants — $25,000 to $250,000 — are given to local partnerships. Each partnership must involve at least two organizations: one a nonprofit design or cultural organization and the other a government entity.

“Each project should represent the distinct character and quality of its community,” says NEA, noting that the program is meant to increase communities’ livability.

One of the more unusual artists celebrated in the program is 92-year-old Vollis Simpson, who years ago started turning scrap metal into colorful objects that move and creak in the breezes: “a team of horses pulling a wagon, a metal man strumming a guitar and an airplane cum rocket ship that might have escaped from an old comic book,” The New York Times observed in an April 6, 2010, article about the self-taught artist, whose works are on permanent display in Baltimore, Atlanta, and Albuquerque.

A park for cultural tourists

A $250,000 grant will help Wilson, a city of about 50,000 in east-central North Carolina, build a two-acre park that local people envision as “a major destination for cultural visitors worldwide and a uniquely wonderful gathering place and public green space for Wilson County and the region.” The park is expected to aid in revitalization of Wilson’s downtown; it will anchor an arts district now being developed.

Another winner is ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which was awarded $100,000 to support an annual competition that invites artists from around the world to compete to exhibit their work in museums, businesses, restaurants, stores, parks, and other existing spaces in Grand Rapids during a free, two-week festival.

Among the activities funded by Our Town are:

• Development of plans for cultural and/or creative-sector growth. This includes “planning for arts/cultural districts and creative industry hubs/districts/clusters,” says NEA.

• Engagement of artists or arts organizations in place-based planning.

• Use of design to enhance or revitalize public spaces. This encompasses “charrettes, competitions, community engagement, and the development of design specifications for streetscapes, pedestrian bridges, sustainable parks, and landscapes,” among other activities.

• Commissioning or installation of new art to improve public spaces.

NEA expects to offer Our Town grants again in 2012. Funding for next year’s round depends on the agency’s 2012 fiscal year budget, now wending its way through the legislative process. Anyone interested in applying should check the NEA website beginning around mid-January. Organizations may also ask to be added to the e-mail list used to distribute Our Town grant information; send an e-mail request to Jamie Hand, design specialist, at hand@arts.gov.

Prior to submitting an application, the applicant must first complete the Grants.gov registration process, which is said to take as few as three to five business days or as long as four weeks, depending on whether difficulties emerge.

NEA says each Our Town project must have:

•A systemic approach to civic development with a persuasive vision for change.

• Clearly defined civic development goals and objectives that recognize and enhance the role the arts play at the center of community life.

• An action plan aligned with the project vision and civic development goals.   

•A funding plan that is appropriate, feasible, indicates strong community support, and includes a well-conceived sustainability strategy.