$187K In Grants Earmarked For 42 New Haven Artists, Organizations

NEW HAVEN, CT — The 42 recipients of the 2022-23 Neighborhood Cultural Vitality grant awards represent a broad range of performing and visual arts organizations, community festivals, exhibitions, and projects that embody the diversity and richness of New Haven’s history, arts, and culture.

Tuesday, Mayor Justin Elicker and New Haven Director of Arts, Culture, and Tourism Adriane Jefferson announced and recognized the recipients at the Stetson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library. Local artists and organizations are receiving funding this year, with a total of $187,200 in grants awarded.

The Neighborhood Cultural Vitality (NCV) grant program provides support to arts and cultural programming and services within the City of New Haven. The program grew out of a desire to support projects that celebrate, recognize, and bring together the city's diverse neighborhood cultures. The program was also designed to elevate and honor the extraordinary work of the creative community, opening opportunities for greater community engagement, uplift, and growth through artistic and creative programming.

Grants this year ranged from $2,450 to $7,000. Of the 42 awardees, fifteen, or 36 percent, were first time awardees. In 2021, the NCV grant program distributed $100,000 to 25 recipients. In 2022, the program nearly doubled the number of grantees and funding.

Winners were selected from a pool of sixty-two applications submitted in seven broad categories: Creating Space, Evolution, Growth, Idea, Learning, Magnitude, and Start-Up. More than half of all applicants were applying for the first time.

The NCV grants also align with the goals of New Haven’s first-ever Cultural Equity Plan, which seeks to undue inequities in the arts and ensure equitable investments and opportunities are provided to historically under-supported artists and under-represented neighborhoods. The Cultural Equity Plan grew out of the national reckoning with the structural racism emphasized by the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

“New Haven is the cultural capital of Connecticut and a cultural destination for visitors from across the country and the world," Elicker said. "The Neighborhood Cultural Vitality grant program helps support the artists, organizations, and programs that help make New Haven the incredible artistic and cultural center it is for residents and tourists alike."

The full list of 2022/23 recipients can be found here.

“The concentration of the City’s cultural resources and assets for too long has been downtown, away from the highest concentrations of Black and brown residents and communities in our city," Elicker said. "Our Cultural Equity Plan was created to change that by supporting traditionally under-represented artists and cultural organizations and expanding the footprint of our cultural institutions to every corner of our city."

Elicker said the grant recipients reflect a "commitment and provides a richer, fuller picture of the diversity of our artists and the cultural heritage and contributions of our residents.”

Jefferson congratulated this year’s awardees and praised the work of Kim Futrell, community outreach coordinator for the Department of Arts, Culture, & Tourism, to expand the reach of the NCV program.

"I could not be prouder of the equitable changes made to the Neighborhood Cultural Vitality grant program,” Jefferson said. “The changes we made allowed for us to receive a diversified applicant pool and to support a spectrum of cultural programs and activities throughout our city. I am thankful we are able to invest daily in local artists, arts organizations, and community-based projects that are making an impact in and through the arts. The NCV grant program represents the depth and reach of the work we are doing in the department."

Grant awardees Chanelle Goodson, President of Elm City Freddie Fixer Parade Committee, and Cortney Renton, CitySeed executive director, joined others at the event and spoke about the grants and its impact on their programming, along with Diane Brown, Branch Manager for the Stetson Library.

Watch the news conference here.

IfeMichelle Gardin, founder of the Elm City LITFest and podcast, was among this year’s awardees. The NCV grant program has enabled events like hers to evolve and become neighborhood staples, she said.

“The Elm City LITFest has been supported since its inception by the NCV grant program,” Gardin said. “The funding has enabled us to showcase local artists and provide a free annual LITerary celebration for the greater New Haven community. It has also provided opportunities for citizens throughout New Haven to create, develop and sustain programs, and events that reflect and honor the diverse population of the city.”

The money available for awards was expanded this year thanks to the generosity of the panel reviewing grant applications. Ninety percent of the panelists donated the honorarium they received, so more grants could be awarded.

“The NCV grant program has long provided paid opportunities for artists and free programming for the community,” said grant recipient Hanan Hameen of Artsucation Academy Network. “The redesign makes the application process easier, more efficient and, now with more funding, there are greater financial rewards as well. It's an excellent program.”

Individuals interested in applying for the NCV grants can still access “From Idea to Funded Project,” the free online grants writing course developed in partnership with Carnelian.