Central Market Arts Groups Named as Finalists for Creative Placemaking Grants

San Francisco, CA, January 24, 2012: “Central Market Arts Activation,” a collaboration between the Burning Man Project, Black Rock Arts Foundation, Gray Area Foundation for the Arts and the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development has been named as a finalist for support from ArtPlace, an unprecedented private-public collaboration of nine of the nation’s top foundations, eight federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, and six of the nation’s largest banks. ArtPlace supports creative placemaking with grants and loans, research and advocacy. Central Market Arts Acitivation joins 128 other projects in 68 cities working to transform their communities by driving vibrancy through investments in the arts.

The selected projects represent the best of the more than 2,000 applications from across the country. Finalists were chosen for their potential to have a transformative impact on community vibrancy. Proposed projects run the gamut from temporary art spaces to permanent performance venues, from music festivals to art walks and from streetscaping to artist residencies.

“We hope to amplify the momentum of San Francisco’s Central Market Economic Development Strategy through community collaboration toward unique arts activation and programming in the district,” says Harley K. Dubois, Founding Board Member of the Burning Man Project. “The established capacity and accomplishments of the partners as well as the momentum and focus in the district will continue to develop the culture of creativity that exists in Central Market.”

ArtPlace expects to distribute $15 million in 2012. This year’s grant recipients will be announced in May. Last year, 34 organizations received a total of $11.5 million.

The full list of finalists can be found at http://www.artplaceamerica.org/2012finalists

Participating foundations include Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Robina Foundation and an anonymous donor. In addition to the NEA, federal partners are the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council. ArtPlace is also supported by a $12 million loan fund capitalized by six major financial institutions and managed by the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Participating institutions are Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife and Morgan Stanley.