The Awards – Ranging from Approximately $312,000 to $482,000 – are Among the City’s Largest Investments Directly Benefiting the Local Arts Community
-- VIEW THE VIDEO OF TODAY’S ANNOUNCEMENT HERE –
Wednesday, July 17, 2024 — Cleveland — Mayor Justin M. Bibb, in collaboration with Cleveland City Council, and the Transformative Arts Fund Committee announced that seven local projects will receive nearly $3 million in total through the City’s Transformative Arts Fund (TAF). These artist-led public art projects, which required collaboration with Cleveland-based institutional partners, will create innovative, thought-provoking, and inclusive public art projects in various neighborhoods throughout the City.
“This is a proud moment for the City of Cleveland as this is the first time in our city’s history where we have established a foundation for artists, institutions, and communities to find hope in creativity,” said Mayor Bibb. “More than 200 individual artists in total will be working on these projects, which I believe will have a significant and lasting impact on our great city – helping to ignite inspiration, foster dialogue, and drive social transformation within our community.”
The awardees and project sites encompass multiple neighborhoods and wards throughout the City and represent various creative disciplines that include architecture and design, immersive theater and dance, festivals, sculpture and mural place-making, music and fashion, as well as the creation of an arts renaissance on a busy thoroughfare. The partnering institutions illustrate an array of partners consisting of an architectural studio, a hospital, a housing authority, local community development nonprofits, as well as cultural and arts-based organizations.
BACKGROUND
The TAF was supported by the City’s allocation of American Rescue Plan funds from the Biden-Harris Administration. When the program was launched in January, the City hosted 6 informational sessions to assist with the application process. More than 560 individuals registered to participate in the sessions and over 100 submissions were received by the time the application deadline closed on March 30.
Applicants had to provide work samples, a detailed budget, an institutional partner letter of commitment, and other documentation when submitting the application. As a Cleveland-centric program, applicants also were required to have the lead artist live in Cleveland, an institutional partner located in Cleveland, and a project site based in Cleveland.
Applications were thoroughly vetted, rigorously evaluated, and scored by the seven-member TAF Committee. The artists-led Committee – representing various creative disciplines, arts advocacy, and neighborhoods across Cleveland – was responsible for working with City staff to shape the vision, mission, and guidelines of the TAF program. Several aspects of the program were based on feedback provided directly by members of the creative community. The Committee employed specific benchmarks, criteria, and other eligibility factors to score and review each application.
“As the chair of the Health, Human Services & the Arts Committee – and also an artist myself – I am proud of the collective vision that brought this piece of legislation to life,” stated Councilman Kevin Conwell. “This is a dream come true for the City of Cleveland that celebrates so many forms of art within our neighborhoods.”
The City partnered with Assembly for the Arts and LAND Studio to serve as expert resources for the program. The Assembly is serving as the administrative partner – providing the specialized technology, network, personnel, and tools needed to ensure that all interested artists could easily apply. The Assembly’s partnership also allows money to get into artists’ hands quicker upfront while they are working on their projects, rather than through the City’s typical reimbursement process once projects are completed. LAND is providing organizational project support to help artists and institutional partners with permitting, site evaluation, planning, insurance needs, community engagement, safety measures, materials and equipment, weatherproofing, and how to navigate City Hall processes among other things.
“We are grateful to our partners at Assembly for the Arts,” added Rhonda K. Brown, Senior Strategist of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy for the City. “Without their partnership as a technical assistance partner we would not have been able to develop an artist-forward process.”
Awardees will be required to provide quarterly progress reports to the City to ensure projects are on time and on budget.
MEET THE AWARDEES
The following seven projects have received initial notifications of funding that are contingent upon execution of final grant agreements.
9314 Sophia Ave: A Choreographed Deconstruction and Performed Maintenance of the Built Environment
Lead Artist: Malena Grigoli
Institutional Partner: Redhouse studio
Neighborhood(s): Woodhill
Medium(s): Architecture Artist + Design Project Recycling a House
Funding Amount: $364,000
Portals of Knowing
Lead Artist: LaTecia Delores Wilson Stone
Institutional Partner: Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority
Neighborhood(s): Central
Medium(s): Immersive Theater
Funding Amount: $312,185
For Those Who Call Here Home: Transforming Asia Town with an Outdoor Community Space
Lead Artist: Jordan Wong
Institutional Partner: The Sculpture Center
Neighborhood(s): St. Clair/Superior
Medium(s): Place-Making – Fabricated Installations and Sculpture
Funding Amount: $449,750
Storer Ave. Phoenix Project: Murals to Uplift the Human Spirit
Lead Artist: Ariel Vergez
Institutional Partner: Metro West Community Development Organization
Neighborhood(s): Clark-Fulton
Medium(s): Artist Renaissance – Live Garden, Murals and Handmade Sculptures
Funding Amount: $393,700
All My Babies Birthing the Afrofuture
Lead Artist: Jameelah Rahman
Institutional Partner: Cleveland Clinic—Langston Hughes Center
Neighborhood(s): Fairfax
Medium(s): Immersive Interdisciplinary Arts Experiences
Funding Amount: $482,125
IMPART216: Breathing Creativity into Community
Lead Artist: Robin Robinson
Institutional Partner: Ingenuity
Neighborhoods: Mt. Pleasant, Glennville, Cudell, Clark-Fulton, Woodhill, and Central
Medium(s): Mural Making and Breath Work
Funding Amount: $393,397
For Art's Sake® – Empowering Diverse Creatives, Our City & the Youth
Lead Artist: Kumar Arora
Institutional Partner: Campus District
Neighborhoods: Hough, Campus District, Downtown, University Circle
Medium(s): Festivals & Activations Music, Visual Art, Fashion, Commerce
Funding Amount: $465,343
STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT
“The Transformative Arts Fund is enhancing Cleveland's artistic potential and bringing it into a new era of artistic empowerment. Mayor Bibb has given the culture of Cleveland a creative chance to be seen by the world. This investment will impact, navigate, and uplift a struggling artistic infrastructure in a way that is yet to be seen in this city. The amount of creativity met with genuine resources is a sign that this will become the advent of the Cleveland Renaissance that artists have been waiting for. We set the bar, and artists will witness what they are capable of with the city of Cleveland behind them.”
-- Dr. Will Washington, Washington Wellness Institute, TAF Advisory Committee Member
“This process has taught our team two things: We have only scratched the surface of possibility with this fund. We need more money to set the stage afire. We also discovered the wealth of creativity from artists in Cleveland, and we need to protect their ideas but give them space and support to bring their visions to life.”
-- Gina Washington, Mateza Gallery Owner, TAF Advisory Committee Member
Artists can find additional resources – like information on community support organizations who may be able to assist with insurance, networking, more funding opportunities, technical assistance, business development, marketing, and other services – by visiting Assembly’s website.
