Why Was RAZ SIMONE Given A Grant For $83,000 by Seattle Mayor Just 6 Months Before He Became The Leader of CHAZ/CHOP.

The Cultural Facilities Fund awards funding to Seattle arts, heritage, cultural and arts service organizations with facility projects that create greater access for those who have been (and are) inequitably excluded from owning, managing and leasing property.

Communities of color have had the least access to controlling cultural space. This fund will prioritize projects that eliminate this disparity.

Eligibility

Eligible organizations must have at least a one-year operating history as a legally established organization, either not-for-profit or for-profit; represent a community of color, be led by people of color, or be committed to the pursuit of racial equity; and demonstrate a record of ongoing artistic or cultural accomplishments in Seattle.

Applicants for capital funding must have control of the facility to which improvement will be made through ownership or a lease with a minimum of five more years of site control (applicants for pre-capital funding are not required to have site control).

For requests over $35,000, at least 50% of the funding for the project must be in place before applying. Funded activity must be able to take place and be completed between December 2020 and December 2022.

Funding

Applicants may request funding to support pre-capital, capital, and post-capital project expenses.

The City is investing in a new online Citywide grants platform that will produce a better experience for applicants and aligns with race and social justice values by providing more equity in opportunities for artists and communities of color.

A major undertaking for ARTS and the City, the new grant platform will now launch in late 2020. Meanwhile, ARTS’ previous grant platform, CultureGrants Online (CGO) was discontinued by WESTAF on June 30, 2018. This means that:

• this program will be hosted on an interim platform
• if you need access to a previous application for this program, please contact kathy.hsieh@seattle.gov

Black Umbrella

$83,250

The construction of a recording studio on the 2nd Floor of the building housing Black Umbrella will expand their programming capacity to include vocal, instrumental, and sound engineering opportunities, increasing Black Umbrella’s ability to fulfill its mission of fostering the growth and development of artists, providing a resourced community and driving force in the creation of a supportive, inclusive, and nationally vindicated hip-hop scene in Seattle.

Additionally, Black Umbrella plans to host weekly drop-in studio hours free for educational use, and discounted rates for people within the community.