Year 2017
Jennifer Emerling / There Is More Work To Be Done
Jennifer Emerling / There Is More Work To Be Done
HAC to Collaborate on Rural Placemaking Effort
Re-posted from buildingcommunityWORKSHOP
Contact: Dan Stern, (202) 842-8600 Ext. 137
Stephen Sugg, (202) 842-8600 Ext. 159
buildingcommunityWORKSHOP [bc] is one of 64 National Endowment for the Arts Our Town projects selected nationwide
National Endowment for the Arts 2016 Our Town Awards
Washington, DC: May 11, 2016 – National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Jane Chu announced 64 awards totaling $4.3 million supporting projects across the nation through the NEA’s Our Town program. [bc] is one of the recommended organizations for an award to support the integration of creative placemaking and design strategies into the work of the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) and their community-based partner network. The Our Town grant program supports creative placemaking projects that help to transform communities into lively, beautiful, and resilient places with the arts at their core. The NEA received 240 applications for Our Town this year and will make awards ranging from $25,000 to $100,000.
“For six years, Our Town has made a difference for people and the places where they live, work, and play,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “Projects such as the one led by bcWORKSHOP help residents engage the arts to spark vitality in their communities.”
“HAC is excited to help bring Creative Placemaking, affordable rural housing, and community development together. The NEA funding will provide needed resources to communities and local artists alike. HAC looks forward to sharing these innovations with community-based rural housing organizations across the country.” says Moises Loza — Executive Director, Housing Assistance Council
[bc] will provide training to a core group of HAC regionally based housing specialists, develop a repository of best practices, facilitate a peer-exchange program, and publish articles that reach rural housing developers. Through training and demonstration projects, affordable housing developers and residents will be empowered to participate in the community design process and ultimately create more livable, vital places that celebrate the unique culture of the community. HAC reaches 6,500 rural practitioners and helps build the capacity of local organizations to develop affordable homes in rural America, and maintains a special focus on particular groups and regions such as Indian country, the Mississippi Delta, farmworkers, the Southwest border colonias (communities within the mainly rural US-Mexico border region with marginal conditions related to housing and infrastructure), and Appalachia.
For a complete list of projects recommended for Our Town grant support, please visit the NEA web site at arts.gov. The NEA’s online resource, Exploring Our Town, features case studies of more than 70 Our Town projects along with lessons learned and other resources.