BROWARD COUNTY, Fla., --  The groundbreaking “Art of Community” initiative becomes art of many communities this year with grants just announced by the Community Foundation of Broward.  Five organizations are being awarded a total of $205,000 to undertake arts outreach programs in at least nine Broward municipalities: Lauderhill, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs, Lauderdale Lakes, Pompano Beach, Wilton Manors, Sunrise and Fort Lauderdale.  More Broward municipalities are likely to be targeted for arts outreach, as the programs evolve over the course of the year.

Twenty-one organizations applied for the competitive “Art of Community” grants, which were awarded to:

• Art Prevails Project for its “Art of the City – Block Parties” program slated for Lauderdale Lakes, Pompano Beach, Miramar and a fourth Broward city to be determined.  A grant of $15,000 will fund quarterly programs that will bring together a local artist painting live and performance artists from the worlds of dance, vocals, poetry, hip-hop and more.
  

• Coral Springs Museum of Art for its “MSD Portrait Project” to help the Parkland, Coral Springs and the wider South Florida community continue to heal following last year’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy.  A $50,000 grant will support a curated exhibition of photographs and other materials, community conversations and a traveling digital exhibition.
  

• Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority, awarded $15,000 for a “Broward Gateway” art installationand creative banner to welcome travelers to downtown Fort Lauderdale via Brightline trains, as well as buses and cars.
  

• Fort Lauderdale Historical Society and “The Island Imprint” arts program, which will directly impact Lauderhill, Sunrise, Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs, Miramar, Fort Lauderdale and more.  A $75,000 grant will focus on Caribbean art, culture and cuisine with partnering organizations that include the Consulates of Jamaica, Barbados and Haiti, as well as the Cities of Lauderhill and Miramar and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.
  

• South Florida Symphony Orchestra and its “Community Beats Activations” that will utilize a $50,000 grant to introduce classical music to local residents through six pop-up events in Lauderhill, Wilton Manors, along Fort Lauderdale’s Sistrunk Boulevard and elsewhere in Broward.

“Art of Community” is an ongoing effort by the Community Foundation of Broward to support the arts as a unifying force that brings people together in Broward County.  Goals of the program are to ignite creativity, invoke community pride and create a sense of place through the arts that connects people to where they live and to each other.

“We are thrilled to support so many meaningful arts programs as they impact residents of neighborhoods through Broward County,” said Linda Carter, President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Broward.  “The initiatives we support are truly countywide and will unify, heal, inspire and connect people from all corners of our community.”

Additional details about the Art of Community Initiative are available here.

For more information about the Art of Community grants, please email Kirk Englehardt, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the Community Foundation (kenglehardt@cfbroward.org) or call 954-761-9503.