We’re proud to announce that Pillsbury House + Theatre with its partners the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association, Ward 8 Council Office of Elizabeth Glidden, Professor Natasha Pestich, and Upstream Arts was one of 47 organizations to receive funding from Artplace, a collaboration of twelve of the nation’s leading foundations, eight government agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, and six financial institutions across the U.S.
Arts on Chicago will implement TWENTY art projects in ONE YEAR to knit together existing creative assets in the Central, Powderhorn, Bancroft, Bryant communities along Chicago Avenue from 32nd Street to 42nd Street, using the process to build a framework for the ongoing support of a vibrant arts and cultural district. Our neighborhoods already have creative assets like public spaces, arts organizations, and arts-related businesses. Arts on Chicago’s creative placemaking will further the use of the arts in neighborhood locations to encourage social interaction, support the growth of local businesses and safer streets, and to promote a sense of neighborhood identity and ownership.
“I’ve loved this neighborhood for the past 17 years; it’s an incredibly diverse, mind-expanding, alive, creative place to live and work,” says Pillsbury House + Theatre co-director Noel Raymond. “Unfortunately, the true character of the neighborhood is not always reflected in media portrayals or, sometimes, in the physical landscape on Chicago Avenue. Artplace will help us bring awareness and transform the physical space, so that the energy and strengths of these neighborhoods are really recognized.”
You can more read about it at the Star Tribune and on The Line Media. Listen to an interview with Artplace Director Carol Colletta at mpr.org.
Artist Mike Hoyt will be serving as our Arts on Chicago Cultural Community Liaison and can answer your questions.
Download the application (PDF or DOCX) and join us for Creative Placemaking Workshops in July and August. Download the application in Spanish here (PDF or DOCX)
We’re super-excited and can’t wait to get to work with you.