The Knight Foundation has launched a $200,000 initiative to “showcase the talent and creativity of Charlotte’s arts community” and will award individual grants of up to $25,000.
Knight officials announced the initiative – Celebrate Charlotte Arts – at the fourth annual Boom festival in Plaza Midwood. The application deadline ends at 11:59 p.m. on June 7.
Priya Sircar, a Knight program director, said the initiative builds on Knight’s mission “to build informed and engaged communities” as a basis for a healthy democracy.
“We fund the arts because we believe that through the arts, we can connect people to each other and to the places where we live,” she said.
Knight has committed more than $1 million to Charlotte arts projects since December 2016.
Jayne Butler, a Knight program officer, said the latest initiative was born after she and Sircar visited Charlotte for the first time last fall and met with 75 to 100 local artists.
“We wanted to find a way to better support that work,” she told Qcitymetro.”
Projects selected for Celebrate Charlotte Arts are expected to reflect “the breadth and diversity” of the city’s arts community, the foundation said in a statement.
Knight will accept applications from individuals, organizations and for-profit businesses, using the following criteria:
- Projects must be for the arts, take place in Charlotte and be created or presented by Charlotte-based artists or organizations.
- Projects may be new ideas or works-in-progress.
- Proposed projects must be completed by spring 2020 and prior to the Knight-sponsored showcase.
- Artists and organizations with active Knight Foundation grants are not eligible for funding through Celebrate Charlotte Arts.
Information sessions are scheduled for May 21-23. Foundation staff will also host office hours for individualized feedback on application ideas.
Winners will be announced in late summer and showcased at next year’s Boom festival.
