The Tucson Pima Arts Council divvied up more than $80,000 among 15 local organizations after the agency received a $200,000 grant.
The Kresge Foundation grant will be distributed over two years to local organizations for arts projects.
Tucson was one of only five cities in the nation to receive a two-year grant from Kresge.
Sixty-five applicants applied for the grants awarded by the arts council.
A second round of grants will be issued next spring, said Leia Maahs, the agency's community cultural development manager.
Selected projects address social issues and aim to unite communities.
"For us, it's about creating and sustaining cultural vitality in our community at large," Maahs said.
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Grant recipients include:
• Arizona State Museum
• City High School
• The Drawing Studio
• Tucson Arts Brigade
• Barrio Centro Neighborhood
• Borderlands Theatre
• Catalina Magnet High School's Finding Voice program
• CODAC Behavioral Health Services
• Filmmaker Jaime A. Lee
• Prescott College/Ironwood Tree Experience
• NEW ARTiculations Dance Theatre
• Pan Left Productions
• Tierra Y Libertad Organization
• Toltecali Academy/Barrio Sustainability Project
• Laura N. Banks Elementary PTA.
Grants ranged from $1,500 to $10,000.
With the $200,000 grant, the arts agency implemented the PLACE Initiative, a recommendation in the Pima Cultural Plan.
The People, Land, Arts, Culture and Engagement Initiative seeks to develop "place-based" arts programs and provide resources to neighborhood-based cultural activities, among other things.
Tucson Pima Arts Council Executive Director Roberto Bedoya said the grants were awarded at a critical time in the arts community.
"As public funds shrink, we have formed this partnership with a national foundation," he said. "It couldn't have come at a greater time. We're moving forward and providing support for artists in our community.
Contact reporter Andrea Rivera at arivera@azstarnet.com or 807-8430.
