Diverse cohort of 61 artists and arts groups share nearly $800,000 in Live Arts Boston grants

Boston –The Boston Foundation and the Barr Foundation are pleased to announce that 61 Greater Boston artists and arts groups will share $796,293 in grants to create, produce, or present their work in year 3 of the Live Arts Boston Program. The grantees were chosen from a pool of hundreds of local artists through an open application and community review process that included local artists, presenters, and producers.

A remarkable 72% of the grantee artist projects are headed by artists of color, and nearly half of the projects involve artists that identify as immigrants and new Americans. In addition to their grant funds, the grantees will receive wrap-around support services, advising, career workshops, networking and professional development opportunities that bring the total support for the project to about $1 million.

“We are honored to once again be able to support a talented, deserving cohort of artists to create, produce and present works that bring to life the diverse voices, cultures and communities that make up Greater Boston,” said Allyson Esposito, Senior Director for Arts and Culture at the Boston Foundation. “We welcome them to a powerful network of arts producers and performers we have partnered with through LAB, who are changing the way we think about and interact with the city.”

Live Arts Boston was launched in 2016 by the Boston Foundation and Barr Foundation as part of an effort to address the lack of resources directed to individual artists and small arts organizations in Greater Boston. The first grants from the program were made in 2017. To date, Live Arts Boston has made 186 grants to 143 grantees, totaling more than $2.3 million. LAB has also provided over $500,000 in additional support to grantees to strengthen their networks and enhance their ability to leverage grant funded projects towards achieving greater career goals.

“Producing new creative work always involves risk. Live Arts Boston provides resources for artists to take that risk, to experiment, to leap into unfamiliar terrain, and to lift up new ideas,” said E. San San Wong, Director of Arts & Creativity at the Barr Foundation. “It’s in the DNA of artists to be truth tellers to the world, and the Live Arts Boston artists enrich the social commentary in our city. With a special focus on artists of color and immigrant artists, they deepen the cultural narratives of Boston that are especially needed and relevant today

The impact of the grants can be seen in the results: in 2018, the 65 Live Arts Boston Grantees used their funds to put on at least 384 performances of new, original works. More than 60 percent of the grant dollars were spent to pay performers and other artists – creating more than 850 paid engagements for the artists.

51 of the 61 grantees in the 2019 cohort are individual artists or groups, while the remainder are 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations. Just over half of grantees are based in Boston; the remainder come from 13 communities: Arlington, Ashland, Belmont, Brookline, Cambridge, Framingham, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Milton, Needham, Somerville, and Winchester.

A list of the 2019 grantees is below.

LIVE ARTS BOSTON 2019 GRANTEE LIST:

Grantees are listed by city of applicant. In Boston, neighborhood information is included if specified on the grant application, or is determined by applicant ZIP code.

Maximum grant, $15,000. Specific grant amounts available upon request.