Urbana Arts and Culture Program’s 2022 Arts Grants cycle is now complete, with 30 projects funded and $90,000 distributed. The entire list of awardees is available on the Arts and Culture Program website. Some highlights include: CUDO’s Pro Show 2022; a documentary about Afrobrazilian culture in the US featuring Urbana’s Batucada and Capoeira groups; a week-long DJ camp for young girls; Pridefest 2022; CU Folk and Roots Festival; PYGMALION; and CU Black and African Arts Festival.
Additional details are in the press release below.
30 LOCAL ARTS PROJECTS AWARDED CITY OF URBANA ARTS GRANTS
The Urbana Arts and Culture Program is proud to announce the recipients of the 2022 cycle of Urbana Arts Grants. The City of Urbana supports opportunities for all residents to engage with the arts in its many forms, recognizing that the arts are essential to the vitality of the city and the quality of life for residents. The arts encourage economic development, offer creative community engagement, and celebrate diversity. The Urbana Arts and Culture Commission, through the Urbana Arts Grants Program, supports projects in the arts that are accessible to the public. This program fosters an environment for established and emerging artists to thrive in Urbana, promotes life-long participation and learning in the arts, and integrates art into the urban environment.
This cycle, the City of Urbana’s Arts and Culture Program awarded $90,000 to 30 artists, arts organizations, and festival presenters for creative projects that enrich the lives of Urbana residents and visitors. Awards will support a wide array of artistic and cultural programs within the City of Urbana–from arts camps to cultural celebrations, exhibitions to performances. This cycle, the City of Urbana will be home to a number of landmark local festivals, including CU Folk and Roots Festival, PYGMALION, CU Black and African Arts Festival, PRIDE, CU Jazz Festival, and Boneyard Arts Festival. Funded projects span dance, visual arts, theatre, music, poetry, murals, media, and cultural programs.
“For over a decade, the Urbana Arts Grants Program has supported a wide range of arts- related programs and services that make Urbana a more vibrant place to live and work,” says Rachel Lauren Storm, Arts and Culture Coordinator at the City of Urbana. “Through selective funding, we aim to foster a city that values creative innovation and collaboration. We’re so proud of each and every one of the projects selected by our juries.”
This grant program is open to all disciplines in the arts on public display within spaces open to the public, including but not limited to creative writing, dance, film, video, music, theatre, visual arts, crafts, performing arts, spoken word, environmental arts, multimedia arts, architectural arts, landscape architecture, and emerging media.
To view the full listing of 2022 Urbana Arts Grant recipients, visit www.urbanaillinois.us/ artsgrants. For more information about arts and cultural programs, visit Urbana Arts and Culture Program on Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to the #ArtThrives e-newsletter here.
Top photo by Eric Frahm.