Erie Arts & Culture to Receive $10,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
Erie Arts & Culture (EAC) is pleased to announce it’s been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a grant of $10,000. This award will support capacity building for New American folk artists. This grant is one of 1,251 awards recently announced by the NEA.
“This grant strategically ties into three our four pillars of service, Capacity Building, Arts and Learning, and Honoring and Preserving Diverse Cultures,” states Patrick Fisher, Executive Director of EAC. “It also builds on the work we started with a prestigious Doris Duke Foundation Award in 2020.” The current grant funds eight New American artists to share their art and stories this spring at McDowell High School, and Sharpsville and Titusville middle schools, and to present at the Erie Blues & Jazz Festival and Celebrate Erie. Art forms include music from Syria and Palestine, dance, henna and beadwork from South Sudan, Korean watercolor painting, Congolese Gospel music, West African clothing design, and Arabic calligraphy. “This project also leverages funding from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. It is imperative that artist residency programs happen across our 6-county footprint. Our grant project serves multiple constituencies and needs for a maximum impact.” Fisher added, “Plus this is our fourth NEA grant in the past four years. They are highly competitive and attests to the talent and hard work of our team.”
“Erie has resettled thousands of refugees in the past 20 years. They bring our region a wealth of cultural expertise,” states Kelly Armor, Folklorist in Residence at Erie Arts & Culture. “Artists will get valuable hands-on experience sharing their art and culture. For students, the project will grow appreciation and awareness of New Americans and their folk arts and it will give them a better perspective in understanding their own heritage.”
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “Projects such as this one with Erie Arts & Culture strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.”
For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
