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For Immediate Release
February 1, 2021
Information: Sarah Sidman | 206-788-3051 | sarahsidman@artsfund.org
ArtsFund, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives & Communications
ArtsFund Awards $55,000 in Multicultural Arts Grants
SEATTLE, WA—ArtsFund is pleased to announce the recent awarding of $55,000 in grants as part of ArtsFund’s Multicultural Arts Project, supporting arts and cultural groups throughout Central Puget Sound Region.
Now in its fifth year, the purpose of the Multicultural Arts Project is to generate support for racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse arts organizations in support of the broader community. Eleven arts and cultural nonprofits each received a $5,000 unrestricted grant. Over the past five years, $227,500 in grants have been awarded through the Multicultural Arts Project.
Three new grant recipients join the fund this year: El Centro De La Raza, an organization grounded in and supporting the Latino community of Washington State that hosts an art and mural gallery that sheds light on the artwork and the voices from Latino movements; Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center, an organization that brings high quality dance instruction to racially and socioeconomically diverse youth; and Wa Na Wari, a space for Black ownership, possibility, and belonging through art, historic preservation, and connection.
Through the Multicultural Arts Project, ArtsFund aims to reduce barriers to arts engagement, increase access and opportunity, and engage new donors, while increasing its support for diverse cultural organizations throughout the region. Previous grant recipients have utilized funds to stage performances, enable platforms for cross cultural dialogue, bring non-local artists to Seattle, support heritage events, provide teaching artists for youth, and more. During a challenging year for many nonprofits, 2021 grant recipients will use funds to support their programming and/or sustain general operations. Grant recipients cited technology upgrades, digital programming, scholarships for low-income students, and direct payments for artists who may have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic as planned uses for the funds.
Recipients of the 2021 Multicultural Arts Project grants include:
–American Asian Performing Arts Theatre
–Asia Pacific Cultural Center
–Chinese Arts and Music Association
–El Centro De La Raza
–Japan Arts Connection Lab
–Pratidhwani
–Red Eagle Soaring
–Seattle Asian American Film Festival
–Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center
–Tasveer
–Wa Na Wari
Michael Greer, ArtsFund President & CEO, stated, “This year’s slate of Multicultural Arts Project Grant recipients is an innovative and diverse group of Washington cultural organizations who make our state stronger with their work. By intentionally directing funding towards communities that statistically receive fewer philanthropic dollars each year, we hope to make arts and cultural programming accessible to more people more often across cultural, generational, and even geographic boundaries. Ultimately, these investments in community result in a positive social impact for everyone.”
ArtsFund thanks Amazon and the Greater China Hong Kong Business Association of Washington for their generous support of ArtsFund’s 2020-2021 Multicultural Arts Project.
All grant recipients join ArtsFund’s network of over 130 cultural partners. For more information about ArtsFund’s cultural partners, visit: https://www.artsfund.org/culturalpartners
For more information about last year’s grant recipients, visit: https://www.artsfund.org/articles/2020-multicultural-arts-project-grantees
For more information about ArtsFund, visit: https://www.artsfund.org/about
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About ArtsFund:
For over 50 years, ArtsFund has been raising funds to strengthen the community by supporting the arts. Since 1969, ArtsFund has awarded $89.5 million to 240 arts organizations in a wide variety of disciplines and scales throughout King and Pierce Counties. Thanks to the gifts from companies and individuals, in 2020 ArtsFund awarded grants totaling more than $5.5 million.
ArtsFund is a respected voice and central advocate for the arts on the local, regional, state, and national levels, and leads and partners on a variety of sector-wide initiatives. ArtsFund is committed to helping develop the next generation of community and civic leaders and offers a nonprofit board leadership training course as well as ongoing convenings for the cultural sector.