Oakland, Calif., Feb. 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Kenneth Rainin Foundation announced today that four public art projects will receive a total of $537,000 through its Open Spaces Program. The projects invite community participation to highlight critical issues such as gentrification and displacement; sex trafficking and well-being of Black women and girls; loss of youth of color to violence; and labor rights, domestic violence and sexual abuse of Latina immigrant women.
“When designed with the community, public art has the power to create space for and give voice to underrepresented groups,” said Adriana Griñó, Arts Program Officer. “The selected artists and nonprofits have been working in these communities for years and will use that history to engage community members in reclaiming and authentically telling their own stories."
The Open Spaces Program supports nonprofits to partner with artists to create temporary, place-based public art projects in San Francisco and Oakland. These projects showcase the significant role that artists can play in initiating and expanding conversations about the most critical issues of our time. The artist-nonprofit teams will use their longstanding relationships in these communities to thoughtfully carry out the projects.
2020 Open Spaces Program grantees include:
These projects were carefully selected from 10 finalists by a panel of jurors. The panel included Jocelyn Jackson, co-founder of People’s Kitchen Collective, a 2017 Open Spaces Program grantee, and founder of JUSTUS Kitchen; Perana Reddy, Director of Programs at A Blade of Grass; and Weston Teruya, artist and member of Related Tactics Collective.
The Rainin Foundation’s inaugural Open Spaces Program grantees created three community-driven public art projects in 2017. Visit the Rainin Foundation website to see the lasting impact of their work and for more information on the Open Spaces Program.
About the Kenneth Rainin Foundation
Kenneth Rainin Foundation is a family foundation that collaborates with creative thinkers in the Arts, Education and Health. At the Rainin Foundation, we believe in taking smart risks to achieve breakthroughs. We support visionary artists in the Bay Area, create opportunities for Oakland’s youngest learners, and fund researchers on the forefront of scientific discoveries. Since 2009, the Foundation has awarded $37.5 million in funding to support small to mid-size arts organizations in the Bay Area that are pushing the boundaries of creative expression. More at krfoundation.org.
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