The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA) in the City of Houston has disclosed the latest round of awardees for the 2023 City’s Initiative and Let Creativity Happen! grants, totaling $232,250. Administered by the Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) and funded through the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax, these grants support various cultural projects.
The City’s Initiative (CI) grants, focusing on neighborhood cultural destinations, conference tourism, and natural disaster preparedness, will allocate $132,500 to 14 individuals and nonprofit organizations for visual and performing arts projects in this round.
Among the recipients, Aime Rosales Figueredo will utilize the grant for the Fiebre exhibition, featuring Cuban artists inspired by Puerto Rican singer Calma Carmona. The Society for Africans in the Diaspora (SAiD) plans to host ART + AFRICA, an exhibition and artist talk, while the Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP) will present Emerge!, a festival showcasing Houston’s emerging artists.
Other grantees include the Alley Theatre, Colectiva Feminista Colibri, the Community Artists Collective, David Dietz, the Hispanic Alliance for Performing and Audiovisual Arts, the Islamic Arts Society, the Russian Cultural Center-Our Texas, Sheaman Austin, the South Asian Folk Arts Council, Virtual Arts for Humanity, and Megan Berti.
The Let Creativity Happen! grant program, supporting creative projects in Houston, has awarded 40 grants for the final round of 2023. The projects encompass visual art exhibitions, dance, theater, musical performances, and literary endeavors.
Mayor Sylvester Turner, who presided over this round of awards, expressed enthusiasm, stating, “We launched this grant program in 2018, and the hundreds of bold bodies of work have brought joy to many. Houston creatives continue to showcase why our city is an art city, and I hope that you will join me in supporting these offerings.”
Diverse projects funded by Let Creativity Happen! grants include Davin Morrow’s Out of the Strong Something Sweet, a fine art balloon sculpture exhibition addressing the harmful effects of religious cults. George Brown will use his grant for Distrikt Magazine, a print publication highlighting East Downtown Houston residents’ art and creativity. India House Houston and the Orange Show have received funds for mural commissions, and artist Únies Gonzalez will present an alternative photo installation at Stinson House, titled Leave the Kitchen Light On.
To see the full list of Let Creativity Happen! awardees and learn about their projects, click here.
Source: GlassTire