Kansas City, MO, July 1, 2021: Charlotte Street Foundation is excited to announce the launch of the Cultural Producer Grant Program. This program has been developed with major contributions in thought leadership and funding from David Hughes, Jr. (Charlotte Street Foundation founder and former director) in partnership with Charlotte Street to bring critical sustaining support to low-budget grassroots arts organizations and artist-run projects in Kansas City.
Kansas City has long enjoyed a thriving and diverse ecology of small artist-run spaces, collectives, groups, and organizations, which have sometimes suffered from lack of support needed to establish sustainability. While each may be small, the collective impact both to our arts community and to our city have been enormous. Whether permanent or temporary, these groups nurture and grow artists creatively and become powerful engines of community. Financial backing for these organizations often goes “under the radar” for larger institutional support. These new Cultural Producer Grants aim to both draw attention to these critical elements of our arts ecosystem as well as direct some much needed support their way.
The Cultural Producer Grants intend to:
- Encourage a rich, flourishing, and diverse Ecosystem of Arts and Culture in Kansas City
- Contribute to the sustainability of low-budget artist-run organizations, collectives, groups, projects, and initiatives
- Provide support for small arts and culture grassroots organizations and artist-organizers building larger scale projects that have an important impact on Kansas City’s Arts and Culture scene, despite smaller budgets and less access to capital
In 2021, this program will launch with $50,000 in funds to be awarded. This pool will be dispersed in grant amounts of $5,000-$10,000 at the discretion of an independent jury of local artists, arts-organizers, and administrators. Eligible applications will be assessed by a scorecard that prioritizes Risk, Collaboration, Openness, and Excellence. At least 50% of funds will be awarded in support of organizations whose mission and leadership will positively impact the advancement of BIPOC, LGBTQIA, or Disabled communities, in recognition of the oppression of those communities in the art sector and the gap that has created particularly in the Kansas City Art Scene.
CRITERIA
- Primary contacts for organizations must be an artist of any discipline, over 21 years of age, and cannot be currently enrolled in a degree-seeking program (BFA, MFA, or other)
- Organization or proposed project cannot have an annual operating budget over $50,000 or own assets worth over $50,000
- Open to artist-run initiatives and Arts and Culture operations located in the 5-county region of the Kansas City metro or fiscally sponsored artist collaboratives, collectives, or companies (can include art spaces, festivals, ongoing operations or one-off events)
- Open to the following disciplines: Visual Art, Film, Dance, Theatre, Spoken Word/Performative Poetry, Multidisciplinary, New Media, New/Experimental Music, Social Practice, Arts Publications/Arts Writing, Conceptual or Social Design Projects
- Not open to current Charlotte Street Foundation Startup Residents or Rocket Grantees who have not completed final report.
- Funding requests are annual. Applicants can be funded for up to 2 years in a row but then must sit out a year before applying again.
- Applicants must have 24 months of operating history if applying as a collective, organization, or company. Unaffiliated artist-organizers pitching one-time events or projects must have a demonstrated history of prior organizing success via CV.
Further information and details on how to apply can be accessed HERE.
ABOUT CHARLOTTE STREET
Charlotte Street centers Kansas City’s most forward-thinking visual artists, writers, and performers—acting as the primary incubator, provocateur, and connector for the region’s contemporary arts community, and its leading advocate on the national stage. Since 1997, Charlotte Street has distributed over $1.1 million in awards and grants to artists and their innovative projects, and has hosted countless exhibitions, performances, convenings and conversations connecting and challenging Kansas City’s contemporary art ecosystem. For more information about Charlotte Street, its awards, programs, and initiatives, visit http://www.charlottestreet.org.
ABOUT DAVID HUGHES, JR
David Hughes, Jr. founded Charlotte Street in 1997 to support and encourage regional artists, their communities and supporters. He stepped down in 2013 to allow new, younger voices to emerge- allowing him time to travel more to see friends, art and dance. He is currently splitting his time between KC and New York.
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You can read the press release in PDF format here.
