MUNCIE, Ind. — The Muncie Arts and Culture Council is one of 15 Indiana nonprofit arts organizations and cultural programming providers to receive a 2022 Arts Project grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
MuncieArts received a matching $30,000 Arts Project Grant to support its PlySpace Residency Program. The funds will be used to bring 12 visiting artists to Muncie to work collaboratively with nonprofit organizations, schools and community groups on special community-focused projects, according to a release.
This is the fourth and largest annual grant from the NEA received by MuncieArts since 2018, and all of the funding will be circulated back into the community of Muncie, according to MuncieArts Executive Director Erin Williams.
“Our award was the second highest award granted in the state, and the only award in the region,” Williams said in the release. “We are incredibly proud of this program and the contributions it makes to the community. Every resident artist leaves their creative mark in Muncie and takes a little bit of Muncie home with them.”
More: Mayor’s Arts Awards honor top Muncie arts advocates, mentors and supporters
Since developing the residency program in 2018, PlySpace has hosted 37 residents and completed 76 different community projects, including temporary public artworks and installations, free workshops, panel discussions, film series and other participatory events benefitting the community.
PlySpace is currently located in a post-Victorian home at 608 E Main St. in the historic Emily Kimborough Neighborhood. The lower level of PlySpace is home to the offices for MuncieArts as well as PlySpace project and exhibition space.
Though receiving a grant from the NEA is a highly competitive honor, Williams noted that the arts organization also couldn’t exist without community support.
More: Box! Box! brings 23 new works of colorful public art to street corners around Muncie
“We would like to thank our funders and donors like the Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County and the Ball Brothers Foundation for helping meet the match for past NEA grants through their generous support,” Williams said. “We also thank our project partners — Ball State University College of Fine Arts, Sustainable Muncie Corporation, and the City of Muncie — for their past support of the program.”
Information: plyspace.org.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: MuncieArts gets $30,000 NEA grant for PlySpace Residency Program