Frederick, MD — The Frederick Arts Council has been approved for an Art Works grant to support its public art program. Overall, the National Endowment for the Arts has approved 1,187 grants in the first round of fiscal year 2020 funding to support arts projects in every state in the nation, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The Art Works funding category supports projects that focus on public engagement with, and access to, various forms of excellent art across the nation; the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence; learning in the arts at all stages of life; and the integration of the arts into the fabric of community life.
“The arts are at the heart of our communities, connecting people through shared experiences and artistic expression,” said Arts Endowment chairman Mary Anne Carter. “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support projects like the Frederick Arts Council’s public art program.”
“We are grateful once again to receive the support of the National Endowment for the Arts in our mission of advancing Frederick arts,” said Louise Kennelly, Executive Director of the Frederick Arts Council. “Public art has long been a part of Frederick’s history, and we look forward to further increasing community engagement through public art in the future.” This is the fourth NEA grant to go to the Frederick Arts Council in four years.
The NEA grant will be used for a project of outdoor portraits with the award-winning artist Wing Young Huie (www.wingyounghuie.com) who will work with people of Frederick to develop a series of images that will be on display in a streetscape setting such as on the side of buildings and in windows. Of his inspiration for the project, Wing Young Huie has said, “”In photographing thousands of strangers I am continually confronted by my assumptions, when I get out of my own bubble and interact with people from all walks of life, engaging them in conversation. If we as a society redefined what a stranger was, we would have more of a society.”
The NEA awarded 18 grants in Maryland including Baltimore Center Stage, Community College of Baltimore County, Creative Alliance, Johns Hopkins University, National Association of Black Storytellers – NABS, Neighborhood Design Center, Wide Angle Youth Media, Young Audiences/Arts for Learning of Maryland, Imagination Stage, Round House Theatre, University of Maryland, College Park, CAAPA – Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts, Frederick Arts Council, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Olney Theatre Center, The International Association of Blacks in Dance, National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), and Dance Exchange!
For more information on projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.