Award to support projects expanding on FirstWorks’ multi-year Raise Your Voice theme, celebrating diverse voices through live performance and community engagement
Providence, RI—FirstWorks, a Providence-based nonprofit dedicated to connecting art with audiences, was approved for a $60,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This project will include three cornerstone programs with distinguished artists who will engage Rhode Island audiences. FirstWorks’ project is among 1,130 projects across the country that were selected to receive funding totaling more than $31 million during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2023 funding.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is pleased to support a wide range of projects, including FirstWorks’ project, demonstrating the many ways the arts enrich our lives and contribute to healthy and thriving communities,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “These organizations play an important role in advancing the creative vitality of our nation and helping to ensure that all people can benefit from arts, culture, and design.”
“We are deeply grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts for their support of FirstWorks and our work to develop community-wide projects with arts at the epicenter,” said Kathleen Pletcher, FirstWorks Executive Artistic Director. “The grant projects will exemplify FirstWorks’ core values of inclusivity and engagement, from free, open-air stages in Roger Williams Park and Downtown Providence this summer, to a residency encompassing live performance and education this fall. We look forward to widening the circle for all to participate.”
The project will begin with the return of FirstWorks Summer Beats concerts. The two free concerts at Roger Williams Park Bandstand will feature the multi-generational Garifuna Collective from Belize on June 25, 2023, and bhangra funk titans Red Baraat on July 23, 2023. For event details visit firstworks.org.
For more information on other projects included in the NEA grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
