The Matthews receives the Bush Foundation Community Creativity Cohort Grant!

March 31, 2015

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The Matthews has received a $100,000 grant and will work with Bush Foundation to advance its effort to meaningfully engage people in the arts and integrate the arts into public life.

What is this Grant about?

The Cohort is a one-time program designed to both recognize and learn from exemplary organizations that meaningfully engage people in the arts and integrate the arts into public life.

Unrestricted Grant

The organizations selected to participate in the Cohort will each receive an unrestricted grant of $100,000. In addition, the Cohort will work with the Foundation over the next six months to articulate the challenges and opportunities associated with their work, particularly around efforts to engage the community, build and support leadership, and advance racial and economic equity. The insights from this effort will help inform the Foundation’s future work in the arts.

“The arts can inspire communities to think bigger and differently about how to address tough challenges. But organizations that work in the arts wrestle with tough challenges of their own,” said Bush Foundation Strategy and Learning Vice President Allison Barmann. “The Community Creativity Cohort will help us better understand both the challenges and opportunities these organizations face. This knowledge will strengthen our ability to support efforts to engage people in the arts and integrate the arts into public life.”

“We are honored to be selected as a member of the cohort. We thank The Bush Foundation for recognizing and appreciating the value that small communities can bring to understanding arts programming in our region. To have great artistic opportunities in Spearfish is meaningful to our children who crave the creative arts. It’s meaningful to our artists who need outlets for artistic expression. Finally, it’s meaningful to our community members who desire a culturally interesting place to live. The opportunity to work directly with The Bush Foundation and have this grant money will be transformational for The Matthews and Spearfish,” said Sian Young, executive director of The Matthews. “We want our balcony on Main Street to mean ‘arts programs for me’ to every member of our community. Being a part of the cohort gets us closer to that goal.”

Sixteen Organizations from three States

The Community Creativity Cohort, which includes organizations from Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, will meet twice over the next six months. Each meeting will feature guest presenters who will inspire and inform the Cohort on issues related to community engagement, leadership development and equity. The organizations that participate in the Cohort will also share lessons learned from their experience working on these issues in their own communities. The Foundation worked with Laura Zabel, Executive Director of Springboard for the Arts and a 2014 Bush Fellow, to design the Cohort experience.

Since 1953

When Archibald and Edyth Bush established the Foundation in 1953, they did so with a broad mandate that included the “encouragement of the arts.” Since then, the Foundation has made significant investments in the arts and artists.

“The Community Creativity Cohort will advance our legacy of support for the arts and align it with our work to inspire and support leadership and community innovation,” Barmann said.

Who are the other 15 recipients?

CLICK HERE to see all grant recipients.

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