Arts Center of the Capital Region and Sanctuary for Independent Media receiving award grants
The Arts Center of the Capital Region and The Sanctuary for Independent Media announced that both organizations have been approved for Our Town awards from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to bolster arts in North Central Troy. The Arts Center of the Capital Region has been awarded $50,000 to support their North Central Creates project, and The Sanctuary for Independent Media has been awarded $90,000 to support the Sanctuary EcoArt Trail. This is a rare and special occasion as two organizations in the same city are rarely awarded these prestigious funds for separate projects.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts and cultural organizations throughout the nation with these grants, including The Arts Center of the Capital Region and The Sanctuary for Independent Media, providing opportunities for all of us to live artful lives,” said NEA chair Maria Rosario Jackson. “The arts contribute to our individual well-being, the well-being of our communities, and to our local economies. The arts are also crucial to helping us make sense of our circumstances from different perspectives as we emerge from the pandemic and plan for a shared new normal informed by our examined experience.”
These are two of 51 grants nationwide that the agency has approved in this category to support projects that integrate arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities by advancing local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes, ultimately laying the groundwork for systems change and centering equity. Both projects aim to expand Troy’s recent renaissance beyond the downtown core, where most investment has been focused. Neighborhoods like North Central often lack opportunities to attract investment or participate in development decisions. With North Central Creates and the Sanctuary Eco-Art Trail, the organizations will support community-centric growth.
“Congratulations to all at The Arts Center of the Capital Region and The Sanctuary for Independent Media for receiving these prestigious Our Town grant awards from the NEA,” said Congressman Paul Tonko. “Funding for the arts is a powerful investment in our communities and in our people, fostering creative expression, bolstering our region’s unique cultural heritage, and creating a real sense of place. I know these projects will accomplish all this and more for the city of Troy, and I’m thrilled to welcome this investment in our region.”
Mayor Patrick Madden said, “The North Central neighborhood is one of special focus for our administration. As a City, we rely on partnerships to build relationships and seek solutions that will have lasting impact. The Arts Center of the Capital Region and The Sanctuary for Independent Media have been reliable partners in these efforts, and I thank the National Endowment for the Arts for this important grant to support the North Central Creates project and the Sanctuary Eco-Art Trail, programs I know will help North Central Troy residents share their stories and celebrate our rich history & natural environment.”
North Central Creates will be a year-long program to engage the community of North Central Troy in a process of creative placemaking, which utilizes the arts to foster a common identity and nurture social cohesion. The goal of this project is to help the residents of this neighborhood establish a collective voice, so they can have greater and more impactful participation in development decisions in and around North Central Troy. The program will begin in August and is the second phase of the Fish Market Community Engagement Program, operating out of the studio at 2952 6th Ave. For six months, Fish Market artists-in-residence Meg Jala and D Colin will partner to guide residents through various workshops and small projects, culminating in both smalland large-scale work reflecting the personal stories and communal history of North Central residents.
The Sanctuary Eco-Art Trail will offer a placebased multimedia arts journey across one city block— located along the northern tip of the Hudson River Estuary close to sacred sites of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians (the primary partnering organization). Local artist D Colin will lead a mural project with a block-long series of participatory storytelling panels. Native Hawaiian and local eco-artist/ gardener Azuré Kauikeolani Keahi will work with artists to embed projects into the surrounding Collard City Growers’ permaculture art gardens and orchards. Indigenous artists will evoke their ancestors’ past and presence to the Hudson Mohawk Region. The Art Trail addresses the historical estrangement and ongoing traumas in the neighborhood (designated by the DEC as an Environmental Justice Zone), helping to shift the negative stereotypes of an economically hard-hit neighborhood into a destination zone offering rich cultural legacy. The Eco-Art Trail builds upon the Sanctuary’s 2012 Our Town grant “Found Art in North Troy,” which built the Freedom Square Art Stage.