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Neighborhood Connections and Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Partner to Fund Innovative Neighborhood Arts and Cultural Programs

Photo Credit: Bob Perkowski

CLEVELAND (May 23, 2013) – Through a unique partnership with a local grantmaking program, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture will expand its arts funding to community-based arts and culture activities organized by residents.

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture has invested $75,000 in Neighborhood Connections, a grassroots community-building program created by the Cleveland Foundation, to support vibrant arts and cultural programs in Cleveland and East Cleveland this fall.

“Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s funding comes from our community, and we’re excited that this partnership with Neighborhood Connections will allow us to fund the great ideas residents have for their own neighborhoods,” said Karen Gahl-Mills, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s executive director. “We look forward to this opportunity to help infuse our neighborhoods with more arts and culture.”

Neighborhood Connections’ grant program offers grants of $500 to $5,000 twice a year in November and May to groups of residents in Cleveland and East Cleveland who organize projects to improve the quality of life in their neighborhood. Groups are encouraged to work with partners, and to propose creative solutions to challenges in their neighborhood. The deadline for proposals is Friday, August 9, by 5 p.m. Grants will be announced in November.

“At Neighborhood Connections, we’re focused on empowering citizens to improve their community, and we invite community members to apply now for funding for projects that they want to make happen in their neighborhood,” said Tom O’Brien, Neighborhood Connections’ program director. “We are excited that our partnership with Cuyahoga Arts & Culture will allow us to support even more neighborhood arts and culture programs in our community.”

Neighborhood Connections invites and encourages applicant groups to attend upcoming workshops to learn more about the grant application process. The sessions, which will be held June 27 – August 5, will cover topics including online applications and budget writing. View the list of specific dates, times, and locations for upcoming workshops.

The deadline to submit applications is by Friday, August 9, at 5 p.m. Applicants may submit their applications online at neighborhoodgrants.org, or drop them off in person at the following locations: The Cleveland Foundation, 1422 Euclid Avenue, Suite 1300, Cleveland, OH 44115 (Downtown); Neighborhood Connections – GUC, 1988 Ford Drive, Cleveland, OH 44106 (University Circle); and Lin Omni Building Lobby (this drop-off location will only accept proposals on August 9), 3167 Fulton Road, Cleveland, OH 44109 (Clark Fulton). Applicants must include a total of six copies of their proposal.

About Neighborhood Connections
Neighborhood Connections is a grassroots community-building program created by the Cleveland Foundation in 2003. Neighborhood Connections awards small grants of less than $5,000 to fund citizen-led neighborhood projects, events, and activities that benefit Cleveland and East Cleveland. While most foundations solely extend grants to nonprofit organizations, Neighborhood Connections grants support the ideas of everyday people to make life better, right where they live.

Through its grants, Neighborhood Connections seeks to build community by connecting people in Cleveland’s neighborhoods and encouraging them to become more engaged with each other and the city around them.

Neighborhood Connections is guided by a grantmaking committee made up of 24 Cleveland and East Cleveland residents with a history of community involvement. The citizens’ committee reviews and approves all grants. Since 2003, Neighborhood Connections has awarded more than 1,600 grants totaling $5 million. For more information, visit neighborhoodgrants.org.


About Cuyahoga Arts & Culture
Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s mission is to inspire and strengthen the community by investing arts and culture. CAC was approved by Cuyahoga County voters in 2006, and since 2007, CAC has invested more than $95 million in more than 200 local arts and cultural organizations in Cuyahoga County. CAC’s vision for its first ten years of public funding for arts and culture is to help build stronger, more resilient arts and culture organizations, create vibrant and energetic neighborhoods infused with culture, and establish Cuyahoga County as a hub of creative activity and a destination for artists. For more information, visit cacgrants.org.


View the list of upcoming grant seeker workshops.

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CAC Staff