Image courtesy of Artists + Activists x innovation.
With four days left to apply to the Knight Cities Challenge, a nationwide push to inspire new ideas to make the 26 communities where Knight invests more vibrant places to live and work, the ArtExchange has announced they will host a free collaborative event entitled DIY Knight Cities Challenge Grantwriting Session. The measure is very much along the lines of their Artists + Activists x innovation initiative.
On Saturday, October 24 from 11:00AM to 2:00PM, those interested in overstepping their hesitancy to hit the “send” button to submit an innovative idea are welcome to join the event, to be held at ArtExchange.
At the most recent arts and innovation event this past Monday, where artists and activists gathered to meet, share their ideas and figure out ways to “solve the problem of activism through art or the problem of art through activism,” in the words of co-host and studio artist at ArtExchange, John Thatcher Montgomery, Jr., the goal was to simply brainstorm.
“The big thing that came out of it for us was getting the artist and activist community related,” said Montgomery. “A lot of great ideas came out of that; it got a lot of great people connected in terms of partnerships either for the Knight Foundation project or outside stuff, but it did help us see that people still remain siloed in the way that they look at solutions, between the way artists and activists collaborate.”
For that reason, Montgomery said the group believes there is still more work to be done—a reason they’re “committing to keep the communities coming together.”
The DIY Knight Cities Challenge Grantwriting Session is just one more way and one other reason to continue facilitating community gatherings between artists and activists. Both Montgomery and Nicolassa Galvez, chief executive officer of ArtExchange, are surprised that in the first year of the challenge, Long Beach showed promise, thought it was short-lived. During last year’s competition, two applicants from Long Beach were among the 126 finalists that made it past the first round of the challenge, but they never made it to the final cut.
“Of only 26 cities, Long Beach did not have an idea funded last year,” Galvez posted on the event page. “Let’s show Knight Foundation how innovative we are and flood their submission gates.”
“I think it’s super interesting that nobody won last year and I think that Long Beach really needs this sort of innovation,” said Montgomery, who wants to create a space where a garden of ideas are fostered to grow plentifully and to ensure that no good idea falls through the cracks. “I think there are very fertile grounds for a grant to come up this year, just with [artist and activist] communities being engaged with each other.”
For more information and to RSVP, click here.
ArtExchange is located at 356 East Third Street.
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