On Thursday afternoon, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and Fund for the Arts CEO Christen Boone announced the 2019 recipients of the Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 grants.
This year, grants are going to 15 artists and arts groups — including Kentucky Shakespeare, Little Loomhouse and the Portland Museum.
Imagine 2020 was established in 2017. It’s essentially a blueprint to further arts as a cultural and economic driver in Louisville. It was created from the feedback collected by The Fund for the Arts from nearly 5,000 residents about their perceptions of and desires for the city’s arts community.
The 15 projects this year have to meet certain criteria outlined in the “blueprint,” and represent communities that are often underserved by arts organizations. Here's the full list of grantees:
- Aaron Rosenblum – Kentuckiana Sounds
- Bridge Kids International – 7 Generations
- Center for Neighborhoods – The Parkland Community Vision
- Cochran Elementary School – KMAC Museum Field Trip
- Kentucky Center for the Arts Foundation – The Little Africa Project
- Kentucky Shakespeare, Inc. – Kentucky Shakespeare Festival Workshops
- Looking for Lilith Theatre Company – Just Like Us / Justo Como Nosotros
- The Little Loomhouse – Fiber Arts Program
- Louisville Story Program – Equine Workers Literary Arts Collaboration
- Portland Museum – Portland Wharf Narratives Exhibition
- Rhythm Science Sound – Mixing Matters
- Slaughter Elementary – Revolution Residency
- Saint Joseph Children’s Home – Arts Workshops
- West Louisville Women’s Collaborative, Inc. – Community Jam Sessions
- Yani Vozos – Music Together
“These projects and artists and organizations represent every council [district], every neighborhood in Greater Louisville,” Boone said.
In a news release announcing the awards, officials said 24 individual artists and arts organizations were recipients of Imagine 2020 grants in 2018.
With that funding, 730 people were served from more than 40 ZIP codes, in over 100 locations and accounted for more than 3,000 hours of programming, per the release.
Projects ranged from a sensory-friendly production of "Hamlet" at Western Middle School for the Arts to an artist refugee program with Kentucky Refugee Ministries to a new public concert series through the Louisville Federation of Musicians.