Creative Response Fund Grants Awarded to 15 Artist-Led Community Healing and Well-Being Projects
Wednesday, September 8, 2021 | Arts & Cultural Affairs
A man participates in Haircuts for Change. Photo: Pierre Ware
The Creative Response Fund focuses artist-led engagement on the most impacted communities
The City of Minneapolis’ Arts & Cultural Affairs Department has approved funding for 15 artist-led working teams for projects that provide creative healing and support to Minneapolis communities that continue to be directly impacted and affected by the stress and trauma of the past year. Along with the lasting effects of the pandemic, communities continue to grapple with ongoing challenges related to the murder of George Floyd.
These projects are intended to provide creative healing and support to communities directly impacted and affected by the trauma, stress and violence caused as a result of the long and painful history of police brutality disproportionately experienced by Black communities for generations. These grant dollars are also intended to recognize the often-unpaid labor of artists as they respond to multiple health and racism emergencies and mobilize their creative resources to address community needs.
In 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent community uprisings, Arts & Cultural Affairs repurposed resources provided by the Kresge Foundation to support the work of local artists and designers on urgently needed community healing focused projects. Arts & Cultural Affairs funded 10 project teams and supported a total of 63 artists. The funded projects ranged in nature from pop-up healing and beauty stations, filmed performances projected onto damaged and destroyed spaces, painted murals that share native medicinal knowledge, community healing through art-making, and engagement events involving storytelling and deep dialogue.
In 2021 the City of Minneapolis’ Arts & Cultural Affairs mobilized one time city dollars, funding allocated to the City’s new cultural districts and repurposed resources provided by Kresge Foundation to create a resource pool of $245,000 in the Creative Response Fund. These new grants are intended to continue to mobilize the unique and specialized skills of artists and designers to respond to community needs and engage with and expand the impact of community healing and support.
