HartBeat Ensemble to Receive $100K ArtsHERE Grant to Support Stories for a Beloved Community Initiative
Grant Projects Designed to Expand Access to Arts Participation in Communities Nationwide
HartBeat Ensemble, under the leadership of Artistic Director Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. and Managing Director Rhoda Cerritelli, is one of 112 organizations nationwide selected to receive an ArtsHERE grant of $100,000 as part of a new pilot program from the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with South Arts and in collaboration with the other five U.S. Regional Arts Organizations.
These grants support specific projects that will strengthen the organizations’ capacity to sustain meaningful community engagement and increase arts participation for underserved groups and communities.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is thrilled to provide resources to a group of exceptional organizations through ArtsHERE, a program to help deepen meaningful and lasting arts engagement in underserved communities,” said Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. “Everyone should be able to live an artful life, and ArtsHERE is an important step in ensuring we are strengthening our nation’s arts ecosystem to make this a reality.”
Historically underserved groups and communities—those whose opportunities to experience the arts have been limited by factors such as geography, race or ethnicity, economics, or disability—frequently report lower rates of participation in various arts activities than other groups do. ArtsHERE aims to address disparities in arts participation through grants that help organizations better serve and reach their communities.
The ArtsHERE grants is specifically designated to support HartBeat Ensemble’s new Stories From a Beloved Community initiative. Artistic Director Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. states, “This program is a professional development enterprise of storytelling and theater-based practices to help organizations build more empathetic and just working and learning communities. These interactive engagements, in a variety of forms, allow participants to practice stepping up, using empathy, active listening, and making conscious choices. We utilize interactive theater, drama-based strategies, and experiential learning to address complex DEIJ issues and foster meaningful change.”
“We are very excited to work with these organizations on their projects,” said Susie Surkamer, president and CEO of South Arts. “The arts are essential to the fabric of our nation, and at the heart of this necessity are the organizations and individuals who champion them. Through ArtsHERE, we are excited
to continue expanding and enriching the arts landscape both nationally and within these unique local communities.”
In addition to grant awards, ArtsHERE grant recipients will also participate in quarterly peer learning workshops, monthly cohort sessions, and one-on-one meetings with technical assistance coaches and field experts. These meetings are designed for knowledge sharing, learning, and capacity-building, to help reinforce the initiative’s opportunities for cross-sector engagement.
As a pilot program, ArtsHERE will be documented and evaluated by the NEA to better understand the project activities supported by this program and how grantees approached the work. These insights may inform the future of ArtsHERE and similar funding programs in the future. More than 4,000 organizations applied for ArtsHERE funding in late 2023 and early 2024. Applications were reviewed by multiple review panels based on published review criteria, including the applicant’s organizational capacity and their capacity-building project, alignment with ArtsHERE’s commitment to equity, and engagement with historically underserved communities. The selected organizations will receive funding to support their projects, which will take place between October 2024 through June 2026. For more information on all of the ArtsHERE recommended grants, visit artsHERE.org.
ArtsHERE is also supported by The Wallace Foundation through matching funds to the Regional Arts Organizations in support of this program.
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