We proudly announce the launch of Midwest Memory, an initiative to fund new monuments that celebrate and preserve diverse stories and prioritize the inclusion of voices and experiences of BIPOC communities and support rural BIPOC and other practitioners in the rural Midwest: bit.ly/MidwestMemory
Applications are due by 11:59pm CDT, October 1, 2024.
• Eight communities will be selected. These communities must have an existing monument or memorial project or challenge for which they need additional support to take their project to the next level. Midwest Memory will grant $100,000 to each of the selected communities, plus an additional $10,000 in funding for cultural advisors.
• In addition to funding for production of new monuments, grantees will receive training and support, technical assistance, and connections with other grantees.
• This opportunity intends to build cross-sector collaboration in these communities to help enrich these projects.
These projects will prioritize public memory through research and storytelling, addressing systemic inequities and advancing racial justice and Indigenous visibility.
"While attention around new monuments and memorials is often focused in major cities, rural artists and community leaders are speaking up and telling a more complete and accurate representation of the diverse and complex past and present of the often-forgotten Midwest," shares Theresa Sweetland, our Executive Director. "We also know that engaging complex histories of place in the Midwest may require new tools, more robust technical assistance, and the wider support of a community of practitioners. This is why we launched Midwest Memory, to provide resources, community, and technical support to small towns and rural communities that want to tell those complex stories, and uplift histories that have been silenced."
Interested? Gather your team and join us for an info session on Thursday, September 5 from 5:00 - 6:00pm CDT. Register: bit.ly/MidMemInfo
The session will be recorded and posted to our website.
Midwest Memory is a Forecast Public Art initiative, in partnership with Justice + Joy and The Outside, with generous support from the Mellon Foundation.
