Today, Arts Midwest is thrilled to announce the recipients of Round 1 of the 2021-2022 Grow, Invest, Gather (GIG) Fund. 80 arts and culture organizations across the Midwest are receiving money to grow their capacity, fund creative engagements, and build community.
Students in the Pages literacy program at the Wexner Center enjoying the Jaamil Olawale Kosoko performance. Photo by Katie Spengler Gentry. Courtesy Wexner Center for the Arts
“Arts Midwest is proud to support these creative projects and activities happening across our region,” said Torrie Allen, President & CEO of Arts Midwest. “We are excited to see how these artists and organizations are bringing their communities together and finding new ways to honor the people, histories, and identities of the places we call home.”
Funded projects will take place between before December 31, 2021. Applications for Round 2 (activities occurring between January and June 2022) will open on July 7, 2021. For more information, visit the GIG Fund page.
- Arts Midwest’s Grow, Invest, Gather (GIG) Fund provides financial support to arts organizations in the Midwest.
- It is a flexible grant of $2,500 that helps organizations bring touring artists into their community.
- As part of the GIG Fund, organizations must present performing or visual artists via at least two public events, which can be in-person or virtual.
- For more information, visit the GIG Fund page..
- Applications for Round 2 (activities occurring between January and June 2022) will open on July 7, 2021.
- Join the Arts Midwest Mailing List to receive an email update when applications open
Explore five GIG Fund projects
Hosting animation workshops for young adults with autism
Legacy Learning Boone River Valley – Webster City, IA
Legacy Learning Boone River Valley is hosting a series of artist-led workshops called “Stop, Lights, Action,” that will give young adults on the autism spectrum an opportunity to create an animation story involving their own action figures. They will also host an interactive, accessible light and music show featuring DJs from Mojo Productions that is open to the public.
Exploring identity through the work of William Shakespeare
About Face Theatre – Chicago, IL
About Face Theatre is partnering with the co-creators of GENDER PLAY, Will Wihelm (they/them) and Erin Murray (she/her). GENDER PLAY is an interdisciplinary and interactive performance piece that explores Shakespeare’s works through a gender-imaginative lens. In addition to the performance, the group will facilitate two TRANSCENDENCE workshops, which draw on inspiration from Shakespeare’s characters to provide an affirming space for LGBTQIA+ people of all ages to experiment with aspects of their own identity and expression.
Highlighting Native American history and culture
Riverfolk Music & Arts Organization – Manchester, MI
Riverfolk will present Spirits Rising, a duo featuring Joe Reilly (Cherokee) and Allison Radell (Powhatan). Together with the All Nations Dancers, a group of Anishinaabe dancers representing the Three Fires of Michigan: Ojibwe, Odada, and Pottawatomi, these performers will honor and explore the Indigenous heritage of the Raisin River. The four-hour event will include a talk on the Native Nations that share geography with Manchester, Michigan.
Photographing a performance that builds community bonds
Theatre Y – Chicago, IL
This fall, Theatre Y is presenting YOU ARE HERE – the Emerald Camino Project, a six-week urban pilgrimage across 11 Chicago communities hit hard by COVID-19 and systemic racism. Photographer Akinbode Akinbiyi will document the twelve days of this Camino Project along Chicago’s Emerald Necklace, what it is like for Theatre Y, community members, and audience members alike to explore the streets around them. His photographs will become part of the documentation memorializing this celebratory walk, archiving a joyous way forward into a more enabling future.
Creating a public mural about disability representation
Artists Creating Together – Grand Rapids, MI
Artists Creating Together will invite the Grand Rapids community to collaborate on the creation of a public mural themed around disability representation and belonging. The title of the mural will be “We Belong” – a nod to the authentic inclusion of person with all abilities in the community. Activities will include an open house with activity stations; a large, outdoor public event with ACT’s mobile art studio, and a workshop for people with disabilities and their caregivers to participate in the mural process.
See all Round 1 Grantees
80 arts and culture organizations across the Midwest received GIG Fund grants in Round 1. Projects will take place between July 1 and December 31, 2021.
| Organization | City | State | Grant Amount |
| George Daily Auditorium | Oskaloosa | IA | $2,500.00 |
| Levitt AMP Earlham Music Series | Earlham | IA | $2,500.00 |
| Fairfield Arts & Convention Center | Fairfield | IA | $2,500.00 |
| Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development Area | Oakland | IA | $2,500.00 |
| Legacy Learning Boone River Valley | Webster City | IA | $2,500.00 |
| About Face Theatre | Chicago | IL | $2,500.00 |
| Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods | Riverwoods | IL | $2,500.00 |
| Red Clay Dance Company | Chicago | IL | $2,500.00 |
| Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Ensemble | Chicago | IL | $2,500.00 |
| The Dance Center of Columbia College | Chicago | IL | $2,500.00 |
| Facility Theatre | Chicago | IL | $2,500.00 |
| Theatre Y | Chicago | IL | $2,500.00 |
| Garvey Tubman Cultural Arts and Research Center | Springfield | IL | $2,500.00 |
| Cedarhurst Center for the Arts | Mt. Vernon | IL | $2,500.00 |
| The Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University | University Park | IL | $2,500.00 |
| Egyptian Theatre | DeKalb | IL | $2,500.00 |
| Magura Cultural Center NFP | Arlington Heights | IL | $2,500.00 |
| Woodlawn Arts Academy | Sterling | IL | $2,500.00 |
| South Asia Institute | Chicago | IL | $2,500.00 |
| Indiana Fashion Foundation Corporation | Indianapolis | IN | $2,500.00 |
| DePauw University School of Music | Greencastle | IN | $2,500.00 |
| Big Car Collaborative | Indianapolis | IN | $2,500.00 |
| Bridging Worlds, Inc. | Ft. Wayne | IN | $2,500.00 |
| Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette | Lafayette | IN | $2,500.00 |
| The Performing Arts Conservatory, Inc | Indianapolis | IN | $2,500.00 |
| Towle Performing Arts Company | Hammond | IN | $2,500.00 |
| Richmond Shakespeare Festival | Richmond | IN | $2,500.00 |
| Friends of Historic Vernon | Vernon | IN | $2,500.00 |
| Michigan Festival of Sacred Music | Kalamazoo | MI | $2,500.00 |
| Real People Media, Inc. | Calumet | MI | $2,500.00 |
| Riverfolk Music and Arts Organization | Manchester | MI | $2,500.00 |
| Mackinac Arts Council | Mackinac Island | MI | $2,500.00 |
| South Haven Arts Association | South Haven | MI | $2,500.00 |
| Artists Creating Together | Grand Rapids | MI | $2,500.00 |
| The HAI Foundation | Hamtramck | MI | $2,500.00 |
| TeMaTe Institute for Black Dance and Culture | Detroit | MI | $2,500.00 |
| The Benton Harbor Public Library | Benton Harbor | MI | $2,500.00 |
| Accent Pontiac, Inc. | Bloomfield Hills | MI | $2,500.00 |
| Beaver Island Cultural Arts Association | Beaver Island | MI | $2,500.00 |
| Aepex Contemporary Performance | Ypsilanti | MI | $2,500.00 |
| Oscoda County Library | Mio | MI | $2,500.00 |
| Flint Institute of Music | FLINT | MI | $2,500.00 |
| Crystal Theatre | Crystal Falls | MI | $2,500.00 |
| Exposed Brick Theatre | St. Paul | MN | $2,500.00 |
| Department of Public Transformation | Granite Falls | MN | $2,500.00 |
| CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio) | St. Paul | MN | $2,500.00 |
| Mask and Rose Women’s Theater | Puposky | MN | $2,500.00 |
| Partnership Resources, Inc. | Minneapolis | MN | $2,500.00 |
| Pillsbury House and Theatre | Minneapolis | MN | $2,500.00 |
| Fosston Community Library and Arts Association | Fosston | MN | $2,500.00 |
| Plains Art Museum | Fargo | ND | $2,500.00 |
| Arts for Vets | Grand Forks | ND | $2,500.00 |
| Sleepy Hollow Theatre & Arts Park | Bismarck | ND | $2,500.00 |
| Bridges Arts Council | Valley City | ND | $2,500.00 |
| Performing Arts Center at Kent State University at Tuscarawas | New Philadelphia | OH | $2,500.00 |
| Greater Cleveland Urban Film Foundation | Cleveland | OH | $2,500.00 |
| Akron Art Museum | Akron | OH | $2,500.00 |
| Kent State University | Kent | OH | $2,500.00 |
| All People Arts | Columbus | OH | $2,500.00 |
| DANCECleveland | Cleveland | OH | $2,500.00 |
| Wave Pool Corp. | Cincinnati | OH | $2,500.00 |
| FRONT Exhibition Company | Cleveland | OH | $2,500.00 |
| Paper Circle | Nelsonville | OH | $2,500.00 |
| ArtSpace-Lima | Lima | OH | $2,500.00 |
| Springfield Museum of Art | Springfield | OH | $2,500.00 |
| Black Swamp Arts Council | Archbold | OH | $2,500.00 |
| In Education | Akron | OH | $2,500.00 |
| Kingdom Image Arts | Columbus | OH | $2,500.00 |
| Historic Homestake Opera House | Lead | SD | $2,500.00 |
| Gregory Horizons Community Development Corporation | Dallas | SD | $2,500.00 |
| Cave Collective Foundation | Rapid City | SD | $2,500.00 |
| Grand River Arts Council | Lemmon | SD | $2,500.00 |
| Friends of Rapids Music | Wisconsin Rapids | WI | $2,500.00 |
| Philadelphia Community Farm | Osceola | WI | $2,500.00 |
| Big Top Chautauqua | Washburn | WI | $2,500.00 |
| River Arts | Prairie du Sac | WI | $2,500.00 |
| Thrasher Opera House | Green Lake | WI | $2,500.00 |
| Hello Happiness Creativity Center Inc. | Sheboygan | WI | $2,500.00 |
| Young Auditorium at the University of Wisconsin | Whitewater | WI | $2,500.00 |
| Friends of McIntosh Memorial Library | Viroqua | WI | $2,500.00 |