Year 2019
Jennifer Emerling / There Is More Work To Be Done
Jennifer Emerling / There Is More Work To Be Done
Housing Assistance Council to receive $20,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
Contact: Dan Stern
202-842-8600
dan@ruralhome.org
Washington, DC, February 14, 2019 – The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) is among organizations and individuals receiving funding as part of the Arts Endowment’s first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2019. This Art Works grant of $20,000 will allow HAC to work with local partners and engage visual artists to create a new collection of photos for exhibition, building on and celebrating the legacy of renowned social photographer George Ballis. Art Works is the Arts Endowment’s principal grantmaking program.
George Ballis spent his career advocating for and chronicling vulnerable populations across the United States and around the world. His work with Cesar Chavez helped build the impetus for the creation of the first farmworker housing programs. HAC will use the grant funds to revisit some of the locations where Ballis originally worked and engage a new generation of visual artists to build on Ballis For more information on this National Endowment for the Arts grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
“The arts enhance our communities and our lives, and we look forward to seeing these projects take place throughout the country, giving Americans opportunities to learn, to create, to heal, and to celebrate,” said Mary Anne Carter, acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
“George Ballis was a skilled photographer and equally adept at advocating for persistently poor rural populations and communities,” said HAC CEO David Lipsetz. “His photos and his partnership with Cesar Chavez helped illustrate dire housing conditions for farmworkers in the late 1960s and early 1970s, galvanizing support for this vulnerable population. HAC’s early work intersected with Ballis and HAC is excited to partner with the National Endowment for the Arts to create and display new art rooted in Ballis’ still-timely body of work.”
About the Housing Assistance Council
The Housing Assistance Council helps build homes and communities across rural America. Founded in 1971 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., HAC is a national nonprofit and a certified community development financial institution dedicated to helping local rural organizations build affordable homes by providing below-market financing, technical assistance, training, research, and information services. To learn more, visit www.ruralhome.org.
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https://flic.kr/p/CpXy7x The U.S. Department of Agriculture
