Spokane Arts
Fund Offers
Grants
For The Arts
Spokane Arts has been supporting artistic vitality and cultural vibrancy within the Spokane region for many years, with programming, events, and opportunities for artists. Now Spokane Arts has a new way to support the arts through grant funding: SAGA, which is an acronym for Spokane Arts Grant Awards.
SAGA was launched in January 2017 to foster a robust and healthy arts community. The program was initially made possible by community members and arts advocates, who spoke passionately in public forums and city council meetings about the need to increase the capacity of our region’ s arts economy. Jennifer Knickerbocker is the Grants Administrator hired by the Spokane Arts Board, to design, implement, and oversee the new grants program.
“ What is unique about Spokane and its funding in the arts, is that over the past ten years or so, we have seen a great deal of attrition in the financial support of the arts. Foundations, individuals, and corporate sponsorships have dwindled, or are expecting artists to do one-off projects beyond their core work. Furthermore, our municipal investment in the arts in Spokane has been far below that of other regions of our size.” said Jennifer Knickerbocker.
The arts in Spokane are supported by a complex mix of funds, including individual contributions, corporate and foundation support, earned revenues, and some government grants. Having a consistent, local funding source for the arts will not only act as a stabilizer for the people who work in the arts, it will also provide a model for other long-term funders in our region. Jennifer worked closely with the Spokane Arts staff, board, and commission to create the SAGA program that best reflects the values of our unique arts scene. She held two public forums to gather feedback from the community on what they wanted in their grants program. The result is a program that we can all be proud of.
Who’ s eligible?
Funding is available for individual artists, large nonprofit organizations, mid-size organizations, small collectives, and community groups.
20 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE