Flagstaff Cultural Partners Receives NEA Grant

FLAGSTAFF, AZ - National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman announced yesterday that Flagstaff Cultural Partners is one of 788 not-for-profit national, regional, state, and local organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. Flagstaff Cultural Partners (FCP) is recommended for a $40,000.00 grant to support a new program, the FCP Artist in Residency Program.

The FCP Artist in Residency program will provide funding to put artists to work for Flagstaff. The program will engage primarily local artists to create new works, teach in local schools, provide workshops for the community, and present new work in exhibitions at the Coconino Center for the Arts. More than a dozen local artists will be selected to participate, spanning the visual arts, performing arts, literature and music. At least three artists from outside of Arizona will travel to Flagstaff to participate in the program, creating an exchange with local artists and students.

“We are thrilled to receive this funding to support arts programs in Northern Arizona,” said John Tannous, Executive Director of Flagstaff Cultural Partners. “This is a crucial time for working artists, given the economy’s drought of the past five years. This grant, and the new program it funds, will provide work for local artists, support arts in education, and create quality programs for our community to experience the arts.”

Chairman Landesman said, “The arts should be a part of everyday life. Whether it’s seeing a performance, visiting a gallery, participating in an art class, or simply taking a walk around a neighborhood enhanced by public art, these grants are ensuring that across the nation, the public is able to experience how art works.”

The NEA received 1,624 eligible applications under the Art Works category for this round of funding, requesting more than $78 million in funding. The 788 Art Works grants total $24.81 million and support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts. In this round, the NEA funded 25 local arts agencies (organizations similar to FCP in program scope, serving as “umbrella” agencies to serve the whole of the arts sector in their communities) across the country for a total of $888,000.

In Arizona, NEA funded 9 community organizations in the Art Works category for this funding cycle, with $310,000 in total funding. An additional $807,200 was provided to the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the state agency that provides grant funding to non-profit arts organizations. This is the first NEA grant Flagstaff Cultural Partners has received.

The FCP Artist in Residency Program will begin in November 2012 and run through December 2013. FCP will use the next six months to plan and schedule the program with local schools, artists and agencies. Artists interested in participating should check the FCP website regularly for new opportunities, and sign up for FCP email announcements to receive notification of new opportunities.

Residency Opportunity Alert! Click here for information.

For a complete listing of grants recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA website.