FUND FOR THE ARTS INC

At the Fund for the Arts, we believe that art is a right, not a privilege because art is a fundamental expression of the human condition. We envision a healthy and vibrant community where everyone embraces the art that exists in our lives every day, where everyone contributes to the well-being of our arts community, and where everyone belongs. Our Mission is to contribute to the overall health and well-being of our community by generating resources for, investing in, and supporting our local arts, artists and arts organizations. The Fund builds a stronger community by investing in a broad range of arts, artists and arts organizations and artistic programs across the region. We work with our community leaders to best leverage the impact of the arts on community priorities such as equity and belonging, education, sustainability and health and well-being. Beyond funding organizations, projects, and programs, we provide support through convening, capacity building, promotion, and advocacy. To achieve this, we provide numerous programs for grant-making, in-kind resource support, and strategic planning for organizations that help empower every resident in our city to see themselves as an artist and a part of the city's artistic landscape. We continue to integrate equity and belonging further into the arts community as we help build capacity and access through our programs. Some of our programs and initiatives include: ARTS IN INSTITUTIONS The original Fund for the Arts initiative, Arts in Institutions is designed to invest in nonprofit arts organizations in the Greater Louisville area via the Sustaining Impact Grants. These grants provide unrestricted operating support to ensure the organization's ongoing capacity to fulfill their mission and drive community impact. All SIG recipients are required to illustrate their equity plan and efforts to diversify within their organization, as well as their efforts to support equity and inclusion in our community. Cultural Pass offers Greater Louisville families with children ages 0-21 access to arts and cultural activities, free of charge, all summer long. Cultural Pass is an innovative endeavor to promote a lifelong love of art and culture to young people, expand access to these organizations and arts providers, and improve summer learning in our community. On average, over 40,000 passes are distributed per summer, resulting in over 66,000 unique arts experiences for our community members. For 12 years, Cultural Pass has been a unique collaboration between Fund for the Arts, Louisville's Arts and Culture Alliance, Louisville Metro Government, Louisville Free Public Library, and additional regional library systems. ARTS IN LEARNING Arts in Learning supports investments in curriculum-based arts programs in schools and other learning environments for all ages, expanding access and learning through arts for students across the Greater Louisville area. Research from Americans for the Arts shows that not only do students engaged in arts programming achieve at higher and more consistent levels, but that young people's arts involvement drastically improves mental and physical health, graduation rates, and civic engagement. At the core of Arts in Learning is better cultural understanding, improved test scores, increased engagement, and critical learning skills. 5x5 and Teacher Artist Grants (TAG) provide funding to K-12 teachers and schools to enhance their classroom instruction with arts programming and experiences throughout the Fund for the Arts service area. These opportunities complement what students learn in the classroom and meet them where they are in out-of-school programming. ARTS IN NEIGHBORHOODS Arts in Neighborhoods supports programming and funding for community-centric arts events and experiences, community engagement activities, and mini-grants for existing event sponsorship. Our neighborhoods are rich, vibrant communities where people play, work, and create. When we partner alongside civic, arts, and neighborhood leaders to support and create intergenerational arts experiences within the neighborhoods themselves, we experience higher outcomes in building and reinforcing strong, healthy neighborhoods. I AM AN ARTIST. I Am An Artist. is a campaign to inspire and empower individuals in our community to reclaim their artistic identity, often in ways they don't expect. I Am An Artist. seeks to remove thought barriers and restrictive understanding of what constitutes art and artist, and think expansively about art and the things we create in our everyday lives. The I Am An Artist. exhibition, opened in the Fund for the Arts lobby in 2023, celebrates just a few of the over 600,000 incredible artists in the Greater Louisville area: the people who live, work, play, and create together in our City of Artists. We hope that by showcasing and uplifting more community members and their many artforms, everyone will be empowered to find their art and feel confident saying to the world, I Am An Artist. The more people in our community who self-identify as artists, the more in-tune they become with the art that surrounds us, the more likely they are to participate through art in our neighborhoods, the more comfortable the entire community feels engaging in arts across the city, the more connected we become.