NEW YORK, NY.- ArtPlace America Executive Director Jamie L. Bennett announced $14.7 million in 55 grants to creative placemaking projects that will work in 79 communities of all sizes across 31 states. In these projects, the arts will play an explicit and intentional role in helping to shape communities’ social, physical, and economic futures. These grants represent 4% of the 1,270 letters of inquiry ArtPlace received this year and include eight states in which ArtPlace has not previously funded. This year, 31%  of  ArtPlace’s   grants will go to projects working in rural communities, which compares with 17% last year.

This  year’s  projects  include  design, literary arts, performing arts, visual arts, and, for the first time ever, a media arts-focused project.

This  year’s  grants  include  a  notable  uptick  in creative interventions for improving physical environments through recycling, green initiatives, and site remediation, as well as a number of projects aimed at disaster recovery and resiliency. In addition to continuing to invest in community- and neighborhood-specific projects, ArtPlace has also increased its investments in projects that collect a series of local interventions under a regional strategy, an approach that has emerged in both rural and urban settings.

Including  this  year’s  grants,  ArtPlace  has  invested  a  total  of $56.8 million in 189 projects in 122 communities across 42 states and the District of Columbia since 2012. Mr.  Bennett  said,  “We are thrilled to be able to invest in communities that have recognized the role that the arts can play in community planning and development. The range of projects this year reflects the dynamism of the creative placemaking field in this country, and also demonstrates the commitment, imagination, and vision of the community partners who have come together in them. While each  community’s  story  is individually compelling, it is even more powerful to consider the projects together as a national movement that continues to gain momentum and scale.”

F. Javier Torres, ArtPlace’s  newly  appointed Director of National Grantmaking, additionally announced that ArtPlace has received a one-time grant of $100,000 from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation to leverage its investments in the projects being done by The Noyes Museum of Art in Atlantic City, NJ, and the Coopers Ferry Partnership in Camden, NJ.

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation President and CEO Chris Daggett said, “We are proud to support the field of creative placemaking in New Jersey through this grant to ArtPlace. The Foundation has a strong history of supporting both of these organizations directly, and we are thrilled to now help connect them with the national conversation and field of practice.”

Mr. Torres added, “We are eager to continue to expand the support for creative placemaking in this country. Having the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation join us in this way presents a new model for partnering with regionally focused philanthropies who share our commitment to making communities more sustainable, safe, and enjoyable.”