Redeemer Chosen for ArtPlace Grant
(December 5, 2017) Today, ArtPlace America announced that Redeemer Center for Life has been chosen from nearly one thousand applications to receive funding through its 2017 National Creative Placemaking Fund.
Tonight, join us at Redeemer Lutheran Church 1800 Glenwood Avenue in North Minneapolis at 6:30p to celebrate with live music and inspiring speakers.
The ArtPlace grant supports a project to improve housing opportunities on the Northside in collaboration with the Harrison Neighborhood Association, the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, Urban Homeworks, City of Lakes Community Land Trust, Denetrick Powers of Counter Space Gallery and residents in and around the Harrison neighborhood.
Music tonight by Joe Davis and the Poetic Diaspora starts at 6:30, with speeches from Nathan Johnson of 4RM+ULA Architecture, Sondra Samuels of the Northside Achievement Zone, Denise Butler of the African Career, Education and Resource, Inc. (ACER), and Pastor Kelly Chatman of Redeemer expected to be in that order beginning around 7:15p and ending around 8p.
A highly-competitive nationwide program, ArtPlace’s NationalCreative Placemaking Fund invests money in community development projects where artists, arts organizations and arts and culture activity work to strengthen communities across 10 sectors of community planning and development.
Redeemer Center for Life, a 501(c)(3) founded by Redeemer Lutheran Church, will leverage its ArtPlace award to set up a housing security pipeline with partners to support Harrison neighborhood residents interested in transitioning to home ownership or a more secure lease in North Minneapolis, MN. In collaboration with local artist organizers and neighbors, Redeemer will deploy theatre arts interventions – from posting yard signs identifying residents’ distinct assets to staging plays in houses and public venues – to erode neighborhood stratification and establish new relationships.
“This year’s investments highlight critical dimensions of creative placemaking strategy that can provide great inspiration to communities across the country.” said F. Javier Torres, Director of National Grantmaking at ArtPlace. “We are deeply excited to announce these 23 new investments as our seventh cohort of funded projects through the National Creative Placemaking Fund.”
“Creative Placemaking seeks the full and robust integration of art and culture into the decisions that define the ebb and flow of community life. These projects embody what this looks like at its most effective,” said Rip Rapson, president and CEO of The Kresge Foundation and Chair of the ArtPlace President’s Council. “We were overwhelmed by the extraordinary commitment demonstrated in these projects - contributing to the growing understanding of creative placemaking efforts throughout the nation.”
ArtPlace received 987 applications in 2017, selected 70 finalists and chose Redeemer Center for Life in Minneapolis, MN, as one of only 23 projects that will receive funding this year. Two other North Minneapolis-based organizations – Juxtaposition Arts and West Broadway Business and Area Coalition – previously received ArtPlace awards.
Meet all of the 2017 funded projects here.
About Redeemer Center for Life
A place-based, community-driven nonprofit, Redeemer Center for Life endeavors to keep pace with the diverse Harrison neighborhood in North Minneapolis, MN. A holistic community development organization founded in 1999 by the 108-year-old Redeemer Lutheran Church, Redeemer Center for Life invests in the people who make Harrison a great place to call home through affordable housing and a portfolio of programs and projects hosted in Redeemer’s suite of community spaces – a bread oven and community gardens in Redeemer’s backyard, The Living Room and Venture North Bike Walk & Coffee.
About ArtPlace America
ArtPlace America (ArtPlace) is a ten-year collaboration among 16 partner foundations, along with 8 federal agencies and 6 financial institutions, that works to position arts and culture as a core sector of comprehensive community planning and development in order to help strengthen the social, physical, and economic fabric of communities.
ArtPlace focuses its work on creative placemaking, projects in which art plays an intentional and integrated role in place-based community planning and development. This brings artists, arts organizations, and artistic activity into the suite of placemaking strategies pioneered by Jane Jacobs and her colleagues, who believed that community development must be locally informed, human-centric, and holistic.
