New Grant Invests in Folklife in Communities of Color
Mid Atlantic Arts and U.S. Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOs)
Announce Walking Together Program
Baltimore – January 15, 2025 – Mid Atlantic Arts today announced a new program, Walking Together: Investing in Folklife in Communities of Color in partnership with the US Regional Arts Organizations (RAOs).
The program will award significant, nonmatching grants to traditional artists, practitioners, and keepers of traditional knowledge that show a deep commitment to sustaining folklife rooted in communities of color, as well as community organizations and collectives supporting folklife in communities of color, including nonprofits, local and Tribal governments, businesses, and more. Program goals include facilitating a robust regional and national support network for traditional arts, supporting collaborative documentation and marketing services, and addressing historic precarity and disinvestment in folk arts and culture that communities of color face.
Folk and traditional arts encompass aesthetics of everyday life. They include forms of expression and knowledge deeply rooted in local histories that are often undervalued or ignored by larger institutions. These art forms and modes of knowledge are directly connected to bolstering the overall health and wellness of communities. For marginalized communities of color in particular, folk and traditional arts can be an essential source of community, expression, and joy.
“Artists and practitioners of traditions and knowledge rooted in communities of color, and the grassroots organizations that support them, have historically been excluded from philanthropic investment,” says Ellie Dassler, Mid Atlantic Arts’ Folk and Traditional Arts Program Director. “Because of folk arts’ direct ties to community wellness, investing in folk and traditional arts programming can address this historical inequity by advancing arts philanthropy among underserved populations.”
Juan Souki, Executive Director of Mid Atlantic Arts said, “Walking Together is an exciting opportunity to support the innate impact the arts have on everyday life. Acknowledging and supporting the work of practitioners of cultural modes of knowledge is a priority for the program and will continue to be a priority for Mid Atlantic Arts.”
Walking Together is guided by Working Circles of traditional arts leaders of color representing each state and jurisdiction of the Regional Arts Organizations (RAOs). RAO staff work closely with the Working Circles to inform grant guidelines, outreach, and nomination processes. Grants include $50,000 organizational awards and $15,000 individual artist awards to bolster new generations of folk artists, support existing grassroots arts and cultural organizations accountable to communities of color, and facilitate networking between traditional culture bearers and RAOs to work toward systemic change in the arts funding landscape.
The Walking Together grantee interest form will open on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. To learn more about the program and the application process, visit the Walking Together program page.
About Mid Atlantic Arts
Mid Atlantic Arts supports artists, presenters, and organizations through unique programming, grant support, partnerships, and information sharing. Created in 1979, Mid Atlantic Arts is aligned with the region’s state arts councils and the National Endowment for the Arts. We combine state and federal funding with private support from corporations, foundations, and individuals to nurture diverse artistic expression while connecting people to meaningful arts experiences within our region and beyond. To learn more about Mid Atlantic Arts visit www.midatlanticarts.org.
About the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations
The United States Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOs) are a collective of six nonprofit arts service organizations committed to strengthening America’s infrastructure by increasing access to creativity for all Americans. We serve the nation’s artists, arts and culture organizations, and creative communities with programs that reflect and celebrate the diversity of the field in which we work. We partner with the National Endowment for the Arts, state arts agencies, individuals, and other public and private funders to develop and deliver programs, services, and products that advance arts and creativity. Together, the USRAOs work to activate and operate national arts initiatives, encourage, and support collaboration across regions, states, and communities, and maximize the coordination of public and private resources invested in arts programs. In Fiscal Year 2024, they invested over $33.6 million across the United States and Jurisdictions, through nearly 3,000 grants that reached more than 1,300 communities. Learn more at usregionalarts.org.
Contact:
Mackenzie Kwok
Communications and Social Media Manager
Mid Atlantic Arts
mkwok@midatlanticarts.org
410.539.6656 x123