ArtsBuild
/OVERVIEW: This funder supports a wide range of arts and culture groups in the Greater Chattanooga area. Arts education and economic development through the arts are big local priorities.
IP TAKE: Grant seekers should tie their grant pitch to arts education or economic development for the Chattanooga region. This is a funder that values diversity, so grant seekers should make sure their program includes diverse participants in either of these fields.
PROFILE: ArtsBuild was established in 1969 and was formerly known as Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga. It is a private arts fund and arts council that seeks to assist arts and culture organizations in Hamilton County, Tennessee. Goals of the group include making Chattanooga a premier arts destination, boosting tourism, and attracting new employers who can provide residents with sustainable jobs.
ArtsBuild organizations are based in the city of Chattanooga and extend out to the surrounding communities. This funder supports associations, cultural groups, dance troupes, arts education providers, literary programs, museums, music groups and festivals, theaters, local radio stations, and visual art organizations. It typically funds year-round, ongoing established arts and cultural organizations. Arts education largely prioritizes visual arts for kindergarten through fifth grade students in Hamilton County schools.
In a recent year, ArtsBuild provided over $1 million in grants to local groups, including the city’s boys’ choir and girls’ choir, its symphony and opera, and its theater center. A big part of this funder’s grantmaking is making the arts more accessible to underserved populations, especially those living in diverse neighborhoods. ArtsBuild has worked with the Lyndhurst Foundation and Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd to fund its Community Cultural Connections (CCC) grants.
New grant seekers can view a list of current and past CCC and community cultural grant recipients on the funder’s grants page. Through its Mission Support Grants, ArtsBuild provides general operating costs to area organizations that prioritize the arts. .
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
