The Knight Arts Challenge funds the best ideas for engaging and enriching Akron through the arts. The Knight Foundation has invested $11 million in the Akron arts scene since 2014.
Many of this year's winners are in dance performance; other ideas explore Akron's history. Genres include musical and theatrical performances, festivals, storytelling, film, pop up concerts and design projects.
The following slides illustrate Akron's 2016 Arts Challenge winners.
Knight Foundation names 19 Akron winners in Arts Challenge
By Jennifer Conn, cleveland.com
Oct. 26, 2016
AKRON, Ohio - Winners of the 2016 Knight Arts Challenge Akron will be formally announced at 6 p.m. tonight at the Akron Civic Theatre.
The Civic was among this year's Akron winners.
World Music@The Civic
Akron Civic Theatre
$25,000
To honor the city's cultural diversity through a world music series that celebrates traditions from cultures around the globe
(Akron Civic Theatre)
Akron High Arts Festival
Akron High Arts Festival
Downtown Akron Partnership
$154,000
To elevate and celebrate Akron's arts community by expanding the Akron Art Prize into a 30-day festival featuring local artists chosen through a competitive process
(Downtown Akron Partnership)
Folk and baroque concerts at the Akron Art Museum
MUSIC ALIVE! Folk + Baroque Concerts at the Akron Art Museum
Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra
$65,000
To bring new audiences to music with a series of free baroque and American folk music concerts programmed around spaces and art at the Akron Art Museum
(Apollo's Fire)
The Akron summer arts experience
The Akron Summer Arts Experience
City of Akron
$143,000
To provide free dance and music performances during the Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival
(Dale Dong)
Blue is more than a color
Blue Is More Than a Color
Applicant: David Morgan
Award: $35,000
To bring attention to Akron's jazz scene with a concert and recording of a local composer's work performed by a local jazz ensemble and guest artists
(David Morgan)
Live at Lock 4
Live at Lock 4
The Devil Strip
$35,000
To showcase local musicians and bring more people to cultural events downtown by strengthening a free summer music series at Lock 4
(Ilenia Pezzaniti)
Akron LGBT Film, Music & Arts Festival
Akron LGBT Film, Music and Arts Festival
Dylan Yellowlees
$21,000
To bring the LGBT voice to the community through a festival of film, music and other genres.
(Akron LGBT)
Storefront Echoes
Storefront Echoes
East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation
$34,398
To transform a slice of East Akron by commissioning a local artist to convert an underused parking lot into a vibrant space
(East Akron Neighborhood Development)
International Hip-Hop Preservation Project
The Annual International Hip-Hop Preservation Project
Keepers of the Art
$69,100
To use hip-hop culture as community-based and authentic arts education and youth development – and to counteract the commercialization of rap music – through a weeklong festival
(Keepers of the Art)
Canal stories through song and illustration
Canal stories through song and illustration
Laurie Caner
$22,897
To celebrate Akron's heritage by creating a book and CD of original illustrations and songs based on stories about the Ohio and Erie Canal.
(Paul Vidal)
The 330 Road Show
The 330 Road Show
The Summit WAPS-FM
$16,058
To promote local and regional musicians with the 330 Road Show, a series of pop-up concerts in neighborhoods around Akron featuring the artists who are streamed on the Summit's new online 330 channel.
(The Summit)
Synapse: Steam Into Stem
Synapse: Steam Into Stem
The University of Akron – Synapse
$20,000
To explore the connections between art and science by bringing nationally recognized artists to Akron to explore the power of biomimicry, art and design that takes inspiration from nature.
(The University of Akron, Synapse)
Lose Your Marbles: A Dance-centric Performance Art Fringe Festival
Lose Your Marbles: A Dance-centric Performance Art Fringe Festival
Neos Dance Theatre
$100,000
To encourage new voices and risk-taking art by launching an Akron Fringe Festival that showcases visual and performing arts.
(Neil Sapienza)
Decompression Chamber
Decompression Chamber
Tuesday Musical Association
$40,000
To help ease workplace stress with this music series that will bring free mini-concerts to employees and clients.
(Sophie Zhai)
When the Rubber Hits the Road: The Creative Path
When the Rubber Hits the Road: The Creative Path
Inlet Dance Theatre
$15,650
To demonstrate the possibilities of careers in the arts with two-week residencies at two schools where students create and perform new pieces alongside professionals.
(Inlet Dance Theatre)
If This Wallpaper Could Talk
If This Wallpaper Could Talk
Karen Starr and Shane Wynn
$23,081
To celebrate the quirky style, history and people of Akron through a book of portraits and stories exploring the relationship between Akronites and their wallpaper.
(Shane Wynn)
Made-up With Danny Volk: The Akron Sessions
Made-up With Danny Volk: The Akron Sessions
Danny Volk
$12,500
To promote local artists through an Akron-based season of Made-Up w/ Danny Volk, a performance project where Volk interviews artists about life and art while they create art on his face using make-up.
(Danny Volk)
The Devil's Milk - All Over Akron
The Devil's Milk – All Over Akron
New World Performance Lab
$30,000
To explore Akron's relationship with the rubber industry through three new plays titled "The Devil's Milk Trilogy."
(Brian Dotin)
Were You There? An Interactive Experience in Spirituals
Were You There? – An Interactive Experience in Spirituals
Carla Davis Music
$3,900
To share spirituals, the stories they tell and how they influenced today's music through a series that commemorates tenor Roland Hayes' groundbreaking 1928 concert for Tuesday Musical Association.
(Carla Davis)
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