10 Rhode Island Groups Win National Grants To Make Art

RHODE ISLAND — The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) on Thursday announced the first round of grants, and 10 Rhode Island art entities were rewarded a total of $275,000.

Nationally, 1,288 arts organizations from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico benefited from the recommended grants. The grants were given out in the following categories: Grants for Arts Projects, Challenge America, Research Grants in the Arts, Research Labs, and Literature Fellowships.

Rhode Island organizations and artists receiving grants were:

• Newport String Project, Newport, $10,000 to support a series of concerts and community engagement activities.
• Alliance of Artists Communities, Providence, $65,000 to offer a professional development program for the artist residency field focused on emergency preparedness and response.
• AS220, Providence, $15,000, to provide arts education programming.
• DownCity Design, Providence, $30,000 to implement a series of free design education programs for youth.
• Elizabeth Rush, Providence, $25,000 to fund a creative writing fellowship.
• New Urban Arts, Providence, $25,000, to provide free multidisciplinary arts program for students.
• Providence College, Providence, $30,000 to commission a mural by Houston-based artist Trenton Doyle Hancock (b. 1974), and related public art programming.
• Rhode Island Black Storytellers, Providence, $10,000 to support a festival celebrating Black storytelling and poetry.
• Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, $50,000 to fund the exhibition and related programming for Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch.
• Trinity Repertory Co., Providence, $15,000 to support the world premiere production of La Broa’ (Broad Street) by Orlando Hernández, based on the book Nuestras Raíces by Marta V. Martínez.

"Congratulations to the 10 RI grantees, who are being awarded and using federal dollars to support our already thriving arts community — a key economic driver," Gov. Dan McKee said. "We are pleased that the NEA continues to support this community, which is one of the best in the nation. On behalf of Rhode Island, I thank our congressional delegation, Senators Reed and Whitehouse, Congressmen Magaziner and Amo, and the NEA for investing in our state’s important creative economy."

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