Knight Arts Challenge grants $2.76 million to 35 artistic ideas

VIDEO: 2012 Winners of the Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

Thanks to $2.76 million in Knight Arts Challenge funding, 35 big ideas for bringing art out into the wilds of our city neighborhoods and unusual spaces will take off.

Philadelphians will see a mist sculpture at the new Dilworth Plaza, scavenger-hunting teens, art on wheels, creative businesses incubated, local art in advertising spaces, 3D projections on historic buildings, a fairground emerge on a vacant lot, and so much more.

Congratulations to all of the winners. The projects all sound fascinating, and you can read full descriptions of each on Knight’s website, or watch the video above.  Here’s the complete list:

Performing Arts Will Diversify Old City’s First Fridays

To diversify artistic offerings by presenting multidisciplinary performances alongside gallery events during Old City’s monthly First Fridays

• Project: Arden Festival Fridays
• Recipient: Arden Theatre Company
• Award: $50,000

“Pop-Up” Performances Bring Latin Jazz to Philly Neighborhoods

To cultivate new audiences for Latin jazz by presenting “pop-up” performances by local artists using a portable stage

• Project: AMLA Flash Jazz Mobile
• Recipient: Artists and Musicians of Latin America
• Award: $35,000To cultivate new audiences for Latin jazz by presenting “pop-up” performances by local artists using a portable stage

Stories of Urban Youth Come to Life in “Hip H’Opera”

To celebrate two art forms that use the human voice to tell profound stories by creating a “Hip H’Opera” using the stories of urban life

• Project: Hip H’Opera
• Recipient: Art Sanctuary
• Award: $100,000

Communities Experience Art in Unexpected Places

To provide everyday artistic experiences by creating site-specific works for nontraditional places like restaurants, storefronts and public plazas

• Project: Neighborhood Spotlight Series
• Recipient: Asian Arts Initiative
• Award: $45,000

Late-Night Cabarets Explore Social Issues with Sparkle on the Avenue of the Arts

To attract new audiences to theater – using the medium to explore social issues with sparkle – through a series of original, late-night cabarets

• Project: Bearded Ladies Cabaret Revolution
• Recipient: The Bearded Ladies
• Award: $30,000

New Form of Symphonic Pops Concert Celebrates World Music

To showcase diverse cultures by transforming a symphonic “pops” concert into a celebration of world music

• Project: Black Pearl Pops!
• Recipient: Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra
• Award: $50,000

College Students Gain New Access to the City’s Arts Scene

To foster a lifelong appreciation of the arts by offering free or discounted admission to venues and performances for college students

• Project: Campus Philly’s Passport to the Arts
• Recipient: Campus Philly
• Award: $100,000

Workshop Gives Voice to Unheard Stories of the Lao-American Community

To promote storytelling within the Lao-American community through a writing, performance and filmmaking workshop

• Project: Laos in the House: Voices from Four Decades of the Lao Diaspora
• Recipient: Catzie Vilayphonh
• Award: $25,000

Public Art Transforms Dilworth Plaza and Thriving Center City

To help transform historic Dilworth Plaza by commissioning internationally recognized sculptor Janet Echelman to create an artwork inspired by the site’s historic association with water and steam

• Project: New Public Art at Dilworth Plaza
• Recipient: Center City District
• Award: $400,000

Art Installation Open to All Inspires Dialogue on Art and Spirituality

To offer visitors a contemplative art space by incorporating the work of internationally acclaimed light artist James Turrell into a new facility

• Project: In the Light: A Skyspace by James Turrell
• Recipient: Chestnut Hill Friends Meetinghouse Project
• Award: $80,000

Residents Transform Vacant Lots Into Visual and Sound Gardens

To transform abandoned spaces into “sacred” art parks for the community by engaging residents to create visual and sound gardens in the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood

• Project: Site and Sound Gardens
• Recipient: COSACOSA art at large
• Award: $75,000

Local Artists Get Support From Mini Grant Program

To give a boost to local artists by creating a mini grant program to help finance their art making with awards ranging from $50 to $1,000

• Project: Small-But-Mighty Arts Grant
• Recipient: Erica Hawthorne
• Award: $60,000

Mobile Studio Brings Community Art to New Neighborhoods

To engage the community in hands-on art making by expanding the reach of a mobile studio where participants create projects inspired by their neighborhoods

• Project: ColorWheels: Delivering Creativity to Your Community
• Recipient: Fleisher Art Memorial
• Award: $50,000

West Philadelphia Lots Become Artistic Skate Parks

To help transform West Philadelphia neighborhoods by turning blacktop lots into art-laden skate parks

• Project: Skateable City
• Recipient: Franklin’s Paine Skatepark Fund
• Award: $100,000

Free Theater Festival Showcases Diversity On Stage

To promote original plays through a free theater festival dedicated to multicultural themes

• Project: Philly Urban Theatre Festival
• Recipient: GoKash Productions
• Award: $20,000

Late-Night Museum Happenings Encourage New Audiences

To engage younger audiences in the visual arts through a series of simultaneous late-night happenings at three of Philadelphia’s premier art museums

• Project: Midnight Madness
• Recipient: Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation
• Award: $350,000

Cutting-Edge Performing Arts Gain New Visibility Through Residency Program

To engage new audiences in the performing arts by creating a residency program in the Kimmel Center’s black-box theater for innovative and emerging art groups

• Project: Underground Residencies at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
• Recipient: Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
• Award: $150,000

Visual and Performing Arts Fill an East Kensington Lot

To help transform the East Kensington neighborhood by turning an empty lot into an event space for musicians, art fairs and children’s workshops

• Project: Little Berlin Fairgrounds
• Recipient: Little Berlin
• Award: $10,000

Outdoor Summer Film Series Showcases Local Artists and Filmmakers

To introduce the work of local visual artists and filmmakers to a wider audience by establishing an outdoor independent film series on the Parkway

• Project: Urban Drive-In with DIY Food Culture
• Recipient: The Galleries at Moore College of Art & Design
• Award: $20,000

Weekly Drumming Lessons Inspire Local Youth

To empower and inspire Philadelphia’s youth through their participation in an indoor percussion ensemble by providing weekly drumming lessons and performing opportunities

• Project: Drum Line
• Recipient: Musicopia
• Award: $90,000

Gospel Choirs, Composers and Jazz Ensembles Celebrate Dr. King

To celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Orchestra 2001 will present a concert featuring a new concerto based on the civil rights leader’s life

• Project: New Music Celebrations of the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• Recipient: Orchestra 2001
• Award: $40,000

Design Center Provides New Resources to Theater and Visual Artists

To expand the capacity of the city’s theater community by providing a new space for theater designers and visual artists at a repurposed local church

• Project: Philadelphia Theatrical Design Center
• Recipient: Partners for Sacred Places
• Award: $180,000

Free Digital Cameras Give Access to Communities for Photography Exhibition

To encourage broader audience participation in the city’s visual arts by expanding Philly Photo Day, where everyone is invited to take a picture on the same day for an exhibition

• Project: Bring to Light: Philadelphia
• Recipient: Philadelphia Photo Arts Center
• Award: $35,000

Architecture Seen in a New Light with 3D Video Art Events

To support an innovative form of 3D digital animation by creating site-specific video art events screened on local buildings

• Project: Animated Architecture: 3D Video Mapping Projections on Historic Sites
• Recipient: Sean Stoops
• Award: $20,000

Plays in Nontraditional Spaces Bring Adventure to Audiences

To weave the arts into the community by presenting original, contemporary plays in nontraditional spaces, including Eastern State Penitentiary and the Academy of Natural Sciences

• Project: Outside The (Black) Box
• Recipient: Swim Pony Performing Arts
• Award: $50,000

Multidisciplinary Festival Features Black Male Artists

To introduce diverse audiences to the performing arts by creating a multidisciplinary festival that features black men as thinkers, artists, choreographers, dancers, composers and more

• Project: Henry “Box” Brown – The Escape Artist
• Recipient: The Brothers Network
• Award: $25,000

Locally Produced Art Populates Neighborhood Public Spaces

To bring visual art to a wider audience by placing locally produced art in public advertising spaces in the same neighborhood where the piece was produced

• Project: Made in Philly
• Recipient: The Center for Emerging Visual Artists
• Award: $25,000

Ceramic Mug “Assault” Explores Relevance of Handmade Things

To explore the relevance of handmade ceramic objects in the 21st century by providing a handmade mug to people leaving coffee shops and encouraging them to post about their experiences on the Web

• Project: Guerilla Mug Assault
• Recipient: The Clay Studio
• Award: $15,000

Choral Works for Nontraditional Spaces to Be Commissioned

To introduce a wider audience to contemporary choral music by establishing a series of new works designed specifically for a nontraditional venue – the recently restored Crane Arts’ Icebox

• Project: Performances at the Icebox
• Recipient: The Crossing
• Award: $50,000

Sculptural Installation Explores Visual Art and Theater

To create a sculptural intervention by artist Daniel Arsham within The Fabric Workshop and Museum that will include a live performance to explore the boundaries between museum and theatrical spaces

• Project: Daniel Arsham: Performative Architecture
• Recipient: The Fabric Workshop and Museum
• Award: $80,000

Teaching Program Fosters New Knowledge for Use of Technology in the Arts

To promote the use of technology in the arts by developing an intensive tech/art curriculum for local artists who will share their knowledge with Philadelphia students

• Project: Corps of Interactive Artist Teachers
• Recipient: The Hacktory
• Award: $40,000

Creative Incubator Supports Emerging Creative Businesses

To promote economic stability for the city’s cultural community by offering support to emerging creative businesses with pre-seed funding, mentorship programs and workshops

• Project: Creative Incubator
• Recipient: The University of the Arts
• Award: $120,000

Citywide Scavenger Hunts Introduce Teens to Art and Adventure

To develop young people’s awareness of the city’s vibrant cultural scene through interactive scavenger hunts led by local artists

• Project: ARTward Bound: a creative orienteering adventure
• Recipient: The Village of Arts and Humanities
• Award: $60,000

Master Class Series Provides Advanced Training for Local Actors

To enhance training for local actors by creating a series of master classes

• Project: Creating a Common Artistic Voice
• Recipient: The Wilma Theater
• Award: $60,000

Public Art Enlivens The Porch at 30th Street Station

To establish a new outlet for public art that showcases temporary installations at The Porch at 30th Street Station

• Project: A Permanent Place for Temporary Art in University City
• Recipient: University City District
• Award: $120,000