Funding Cultural Initiatives Since 1997
By Amy Fackler, Cultural Programs Manager
The Boise City Department of Arts & History (Arts & History) operates a grant program with annual disbursements to local individuals and organizations. Although the fund amount and specific mechanisms to evaluate grants have evolved since the program began in 1997, the fundamental purpose has endured: to support quality local cultural initiatives that help make Boise a more interesting, inclusive, and livable city.
Grant awards totaled $10,000 divided among nine recipients for the first year of the program. This year (fiscal year 2015), Arts & History will distribute $76,500 in amounts ranging between $1000 and $5000 to twenty individuals and organizations. The grants will help fund events, such as Global Lounge’s World Village and the Idaho Office for Refugee’s World Refugee Day; writing and poetry programs, such as Big Tree Arts, Ghosts & Projectors, StoryFort, and Idaho Writers Guild; performing arts, such as by Ballet Idaho, BCT’s Theater Lab, Boise Philharmonic, Boise Baroque Orchestra, Opera Idaho, and Idaho Shakespeare Festival; educational initiatives, such as Boise Blues Society Blues in the Schools program; visual arts opportunities, such as Wingtip Press workshops and artists-in-residence program; historic research and outreach, such as Preservation Idaho programs and interpretive support materials; and individual projects, such as mini-documentaries exploring creative people in Boise by Elizabeth Rodgers. See the Arts & History FY2015 recipients for a full list of past and present recipients and amounts awarded.
Arts & History staff members take their responsibility in distributing these funds very seriously. We are cognizant of the need for transparency, impartiality, and accountability throughout the grant review process. We take great efforts to develop clear and consistent criteria that are accessible to potential applicants, and we present this information at multiple grant workshops. Applicants are also encouraged to consult with us prior to submitting an application and to request feedback from A&H on their draft applications to strengthen their proposals. A&H staff also assembles a panel review team with expertise in a variety of disciplines to assess applications. We make every effort to avoid bias through conflict of interest provisions and clear instructions regarding evaluations. Applicants are also notified about the time and location of the panel review and are welcome to attend and observe the proceedings. Additionally, A&H staff tracks grantee progress and monitors final reports to ensure grantees fulfilled their obligations as set forth in their approved applications.
The A&H grant program helps nourish grass roots projects and sustain existing programs. In addition, A&H funds stimulate further investment in arts and culture that serve to leverage Boise’s economic landscape as explained in the Americans for the Arts Economic Impact Studies. The program also validates the role arts, history, and cultural-related enterprises play in Boise’s quality of life. Projects foster expression, engagement, and varying perspectives that are critical components of healthy and lasting communities.
And finally, it is truly inspiring and humbling to manage the A&H grant program on behalf of the people in the City of Boise. The level of creativity, ingenuity, talent, and dedication that applicants—both funded and not funded by A&H—offer to city residents is astounding. We are fortunate to live in a community with such people who earnestly and tirelessly work toward integrating creativity, inclusiveness, diversity into our Boise culture and helping to make our city “THE” place to live.
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