Harold Shapiro Photo
Department of Cultural Affairs Director Barbara Lamb, Public Art Coordinator Margaret Bodell, and Kim Futrell
In May, Project Storefronts, a creative-entrepreneurism-focused initiative administered by the City of New Haven’s Department of Cultural Affairs with support from the Economic Development Corporation of New Haven, was recognized with a Creative Economy Award from the New England Foundation for the Arts. Today, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Project Storefronts an “Our Town” grant.
In a press release issued today by the NEA, the organization’s chairman, Rocco Landesman, was quoted as saying, “Communities across our country are investing in the arts and smart design to enhance Americans’ quality of life and to promote the distinctive identities of our communities. Our Town creates partnerships among local governments and arts and design organizations to strengthen the creative sector and help revitalize the overall community.”
Project Storefonts was one of two Connecticut-based organizations to receive funding through the NEA’s “Our Town” grant program, the other being the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, in Hartford. The Bushnell was awarded an “Our Town” grant in the amount of $150,000 “to support the third phase of the iQuilt project, an arts-based economic development plan designed to capitalize on Hartford’s unique heritage and cultural assets,” according to the NEA’s press release.
Project Storefonts received $100,000 “to support the expansion” of the program.
The NEA’s announcement today marked the first cycle of “Our Town” grant funding. The NEA awarded “$6.575 million in grants to 51 communities in 34 states that have created public-private partnerships to strengthen the arts while shaping the social, physical, and economic characters of their neighborhoods, towns, cities, and regions,” according to the press release.