ArtPlace is pleased to announce the 21 finalist organizations for the new Community Development Investments (CDI) program! In August of 2015 we will fund one organization in each of the six indicated regions:
A community of any size in Alaska:
- Cook Inlet Housing Authority, Anchorage, AK
- NeighborWorks Anchorage, Anchorage, AK
- The Association of Village Council Presidents, Bethel, AK
A community of any size in California
- Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs' Activities League, San Leandro, CA
- Fresno Metro Ministry, Fresno, CA
- Latino Health Access, Santa Ana, CA
- Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation, Los Angeles, CA
A nonmetropolitan area community in Arizona, New Mexico, or Texas
- Nogales Community Development Corporation, Nogales, AZ
- Siete del Norte, Embudo, NM
- Zuni Youth Enrichment Project, Zuni, NM
A nonmetropolitan area community in Minnesota
- North Central Economic Development Association, Staples, MN
- Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, Statewide, MN
- Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership, Slayton, MN
One or more neighborhoods of Philadelphia, PA
- Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
- Fairmount Park Conservancy, Philadelphia, PA
- People's Emergency Center Community Development Corporation, Philadelphia, PA
- Women's Community Revitalization Project, Philadelphia, PA
A metropolitan community in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, or West Virginia
- Charleston Area Alliance, Charleston, WV
- Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, Jackson, MS
- Rocky Mount Edgecombe Community Development Corporation, Rocky Mount, NC
- S.G. Atkins Community Development Corporation, Winston-Salem, NC
Representatives from each of the CDI finalist organizations and PolicyLink will join ArtPlace grantees and partners at the annual ArtPlace Grantee Summit in Philadelphia this week (May 4-6, 2015).
The Community Development Investments (CDI) is a one-time program that will support place-based organizations with a primary mission of community planning and development to incorporate arts and cultural strategies into their work. The program will provide each organization up to $3 million in grant funding over three years, as well as access to national creative placemaking experts, a team that will look at the deployment of debt capital, and a team to advise on federal grant opportunities.
The CDI program is designed as a learning opportunity for both the grantee organizations and for the broader fields of arts and community development. ArtPlace has selected the national research and action institute PolicyLink to serve as its Research and Documentation partner for the duration of the three-year grant program. PolicyLink was identified through a national competition that drew fourteen applications from research teams.
“PolicyLink is dedicated to Lifting Up What Works to drive national research, policy, and action,” said Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and CEO of PolicyLink. “In places all across this country, arts and culture are essential to the development and implementation of strategies to secure sustainable communities of opportunity and prosperity. We look forward to partnering with ArtPlace to capture those lessons and share them broadly."
To learn more about the CDI program and PolicyLink's participation, read the full announcement here.