$100,000 in Funding Received for Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton, Buckeye, Mount Pleasant, and Woodland Hills Neighborhoods

Cleveland - LAND studio is pleased to announce it has been awarded two highly-competitive National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants—one for its work alongside partners in the Clark-Fulton community; the other for an expansion of the organization’s Inner City Hues program. These awards represent a $100,000 arts investment in the Clark-Fulton, Buckeye, Mount Pleasant, and Woodland Hills neighborhoods to help beautify public spaces through increased community engagement and building capacity of local artists.

NEA Chairman Mary Anne Carter approved more than $84 million in grants as part of the NEA’s second funding announcement for fiscal year 2020. Included was a grant of $75,000 to LAND studio and The MetroHealth Foundation to support artist and resident-led development of community gathering spaces in Clark-Fulton, home to Ohio’s largest Latinx population. This Our Town grant is one of only 51 awards granted nationwide.

“We are so pleased to receive this significant funding,” says Kate Brown, President of The MetroHealth Foundation. “LAND studio will help us engage artists and residents, including area youth, in developing public space improvements that will incorporate culturally relevant public art and programming to enhance the quality of life among our neighborhood’s diverse residents.”

The neighborhood is undergoing revitalization and investment partly due to the $1 billion campus transformation of MetroHealth hospital, funding from the State of Ohio by way of housing tax credits, the creation of a Latinx marketplace, and the expansion of several arts organizations. Over the next two years, LAND studio will support community leaders and residents to engage in a master-planning process with many stakeholders, including Metro West Community Development Organization and Councilwoman Jasmin Santana. The NEA grant will support ongoing efforts and new initiatives to engage community members and artists in the creation of culturally relevant artworks.

The second NEA award, in the amount of $25,000, is part of NEA’s Art Works, and will expand LAND studio’s Inner City Hues program into the neighborhoods of Buckeye, Mount Pleasant, and Woodland Hills. Through a two-year process, LAND studio and community stakeholders will select artists and continue to engage residents in the creation of new artworks and programming. Inner City Hues is designed to foster community-led public art projects in Cleveland’s neighborhoods. LAND studio Executive Director Greg Peckham explains, “For more than 10 years, LAND studio has planned, implemented, and programmed public spaces in Cleveland’s Buckeye neighborhood in partnership with community organizations, businesses, artists, and residents. This funding is important and we are eager to improve the built environment in these neighborhoods by increasing access to safe, active greenspaces, and arts and cultural experiences.”

The NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America.

LAND studio is fortunate to have received a number of NEA awards since the organization’s creation in 2011. Though highly-competitive, with a known success rate for applying organizations of only 25%, the funding from these grants has made a lasting impact in several of Cleveland’s many neighborhoods. LAND studio is proud to have received seven NEA awards since 2014, securing nearly $365,000 in funding for public art and programming along East 9th Street in downtown Cleveland; design of the East 66th street corridor in MidTown; and, additional public art, programming, and design in Buckeye.

about land studio
LAND studio is a catalyst, convener, and collaborator. For more than thirty years, LAND studio at its predecessor organizations have managed a range of public art installations, cultural programming, and civic space development projects across the city of Cleveland, engaging the community, including residents, local leadership, and a network of nonprofit and civic partners. LAND studio expands opportunities for public art investments and seeks ways for its work to reflect Cleveland’s diverse neighborhoods. As dialogue related to racial equity and inclusion continues to evolve in society, LAND studio is committed to creating and maintaining opportunities for everyone, regardless of race, gender, ability, or the community in which they live.

Contact
Tara Turner
Senior Director of Development & Communications
LAND studio tturner@land-studio.org
216-469-3174