New funds available to Delta region

$460,000 on tap for developing community art, culture

The Delta Regional Authority announced a new funding mechanism to help cultivate home-grown arts and culture projects in the Delta region.

On Wednesday, the federal economic development organization revealed the availability of $460,000 for applicants interested in developing cultural projects aimed at strengthening the economic potential of their communities.

The Creative Placemaking Initiative will offer the grant funding in conjunction with a group of national organizations that will offer workshops and expertise to community leaders interested in obtaining funding. National partners in the program include the National Endowment for the Arts, ArtPlace America, the Rural Policy Research Institute, the National Association of Counties and, among others, the National Association of Development Organizations.

"Artists are the one asset that is already in every community," said Jamie Bennett, executive Director of ArtPlace America, a coalition of national groups that focuses on using arts and culture to economically strengthen rural communities.

"Not all of our communities are lucky enough to be anchored by a major hospital or major university. Not all of our communities are even lucky enough to have broadband access. But every single community in the Delta regions and across the country has people who sing and dance and tell stories," he said. "This is a chance to take those assets, to take those artists, and bring them into partnership with everyone else who lives in the community."

According to data collected by the National Endowment for the Arts, more than 34,000 people work in industries related to arts and culture in Arkansas, earning a combined $1.54 billion in 2014. The growth that year ranked above the national average.

Top arts and cultural industries in the state that year included government, retail, broadcasting and film, according to federal data.

Additionally, 28 million visitors spent $7.2 billion in tourism in Arkansas in 2015, delivering $374 million in state taxes and $137 million in local taxes, according to data provided by the Delta Regional Authority.

The initiative aims to address quality-of-life issues in Delta communities in an effort to improve business retention and attraction and help curb population attrition.

"We really see this as another tool in their tool kit when they're thinking about industrial recruitment," said Federal Co-Chairman Chris Masingill of the Delta Regional Authority. "We know this strategy works, and we want our local leaders and community developers to engage more with bringing that into their strategy."

Existing examples of "creative placemaking projects" -- defined by Masingill as the "integration of arts and culture into community development activity" -- include the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home in Dyess and the Arts and Entertainment District in downtown El Dorado.

The Delta Regional Authority and National Endowment for the Arts will hold regional workshops this summer in six locations within the eight-state Delta region. The workshops are designed to more "deeply inform" community leaders and economic development districts how to implement "placemaking" strategies in their communities.

One of the six workshops will take place June 29 to 30 in Wilson. Another will take place July 6 to 7 in Greenville, Miss., just across the Mississippi River from Lake Village.

Successful applicants can receive grants up to $30,000 and 50 hours of technical assistance to help kickstart projects. Only residents living within the authority's 252 counties, which include 42 in Arkansas, are eligible to apply.

Workshop registration and grant applications can be found at dra.gov/creativeplacemaking.

Metro on 05/25/2017

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