Schweinfurth Art CenterAuburn, NY (Jan. 10, 2023) – Schweinfurth Art Center is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a Challenge America award of $10,000. This grant will support the art center’s Quilters of Color Initiative.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “Projects such as this one with the Schweinfurth Art Center strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.”

This is the first time that the Schweinfurth has been approved for an NEA grant. The NEA received 447 eligible applications for Challenge America grants and will award grants totaling $2.62 million to 262 organizations as part of its first round of fiscal year 2023 grants.

“The Schweinfurth Art Center is known for its quilting and fiber arts programs. This NEA funding will help us extend more opportunities to quilters of color and recognizes the important contribution of African American quilters and their traditions in contemporary quilting,” said Schweinfurth Executive Director Donna Lamb. “We will be including several artists of color on the faculty for our fiber arts programs and providing exhibition opportunities.”

The Schweinfurth’s Quilters of Color Initiative includes several workshops, classes, and an exhibition opportunity for a quilter of color. All events will occur in 2023.

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit https://www.arts.gov/news/press-releases/2023/national-endowment-arts-announces-first-round-fiscal-year-2023-grants. For more information about the Schweinfurth, link to myartcenter.org.

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About the Schweinfurth

The Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center is a multi-arts center that opened in 1981 thanks to a bequest from Auburn-born architect Julius Schweinfurth. The art center's programs include more than a dozen exhibitions each year and educational programs for children and adults, which feature local, national, and international artists. For more information, link to schweinfurthartcenter.org.

About Challenge America grants

Challenge America grants are awarded in all artistic disciplines to reach historically underserved communities that have rich and dynamic cultural identities. Grants are all $10,000 and require a cost share/

 

For more information, contact:

Maria Welych, Marketing Director

Schweinfurth Art Center

315.255.1553 w. | 315.380.6472 m.

mwelych@schweinfurthartcenter.orgmatch of at least one to one.