Posted on August 16, 2011

Artspace Receives $3.75 Million From Ford Foundation

Minneapolis-based Artspace Projects, Inc., the nation's leading developer for the arts, has announced a $3 million program-related investment and a $750,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to support its efforts to build better communities through the arts.

The $3 million PRI, a ten-year loan at 1 percent, will be used for pre-development activities, including hiring architects and engineers, in communities nationwide where a lack of resources often prevents project concepts from getting off the ground. Among other things, Artspace will use the investment for a project in New Orleans, where it expects to begin construction on a multi-partner arts facility in 2013. According to Artspace president Kelley Lindquist, the loan might subsidize pre-development of up to a dozen projects.

The grant includes $500,000 earmarked for early project development and community engagement work in Hawaii, New Orleans, and the Northern Plains region, with the remaining $250,000 to be used to support a learning education program at the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, a project that Artspace is developing in downtown Minneapolis. The grant is the fourth that Ford has awarded to Artspace.

"The foundation has long recognized that art and artists are essential to the health and well-being of our communities," said Ford Foundation president Luis Ubiņas. "Arts institutions and housing can spur local economic development and anchor communities. Artspace brings invaluable expertise and innovation as we look to support lasting and sustainable centers of artistic excellence throughout the country. Celebrating the human imagination and giving voice to the diversity and creativity of people remains a central need of our society, especially in these difficult times."