Knight Arts Challenge- Submit your best idea!

Such projects now have a home here in town because of the Knight Arts Challenge:
New World Symphony’s Sound and Sight Video series. Sleepless Night Miami Beach. Miami Lighthouse for the Blind. Bass Museum’s TC Temporary Contemporary public art project. AIRIE Encountering art in the Everglades. Miami-Dade County Public Schools Cultural Passport. Little Haiti Cultural Center’s Haitian Heritage Art Project. Florida Grand Opera in unexpected places. Dawntown Architecture Contest. Playground Theatre’s world premiere production of “The Red Thread.” Cuban Museum’s Sweet Home Museo Cubano. Rhythm Foundation’s Big Night in Little Haiti. Karen Peterson’s Inclusive Dance for MDPS students. DDA’s Downtown Miami Concert Series Summer Shows at the Gusman. Noches Tropicales/Tropical Nights free music and dance concerts in Miami Dade Parks. Free Gospel Sundays at the Arsht, Borscht Film Festival. O Cinema, Miami International Film Festival. South Florida Composers Alliance’s The Listening Gallery. Cleveland Orchestra and Miami City Ballet together. Bas Fisher Invitational’s Weird Miami Bus Tours. Seraphic Fire’s Miami Choral project. Peter London Global Dance Theater. City Theatre’s CityWrights training mentorship project. Hannah Kahn Poetry Foundation. Commissioned site-specific contemporary art works at Vizcaya….and so many more.

And all it took was a good idea!

Knight Arts Challenge Contest Opens For Applications
 
Bginning Feb. 21, South Floridians can begin applying for a share of millions in funding through the fourth annual Knight Arts Challenge. The community-wide contest to find the best ideas for the arts in South Florida is sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Applications will be accepted between Feb. 21 and March 19, 2012 at KnightArts.org.

There are only three rules for applying: The idea is about the arts; the project takes place in or benefits South Florida; and applicants must find other funding to match the Knight Foundation grant.

Individuals, nonprofits and for profit organizations are eligible to apply.
In just four years, Knight Foundation has invested close to $19 million in projects for the Challenge, which aims to bring South Florida together through the arts. Local arts supporters are doubling that amount with matching funds.

In 2011, the winning ideas included expansion of the Hispanic Theatre Festival, the launching of free concerts downtown and in Miami-Dade Parks, expanding the Artist in Residence program in the Everglades, launching a new dance company and initiating a teen creative writing mentorship project, among other creative endeavors that bring the arts into people’s everyday lives.

“This contest is about innovative ideas, artistic excellence and inspiring our community. The best projects will help weave culture into the everyday fabric of this region.  We want to hear from everyone with a great idea,” said Dennis Scholl, VP Arts/ for Knight Foundation, who leads the initiative.  

Have an idea? Visit www.KnightArts.org through March 2. The two-question application is designed to be simple to attract applicants who aren’t traditional grant seekers.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote informed and engaged communities and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

The contest is part of Knight Foundation’s five-year, $40 million Knight Arts initiative, to help bring the S.. FLA community together through the arts. Over the past four years, the Knight Foundation has invested almost $19 million in this community based contest.