The Milwaukee-based Ruth Foundation for the Arts (Ruth Arts) has announced the recipients of its 2024 Core Grants.
Ninety arts and cultural organizations across the U.S. will receive a total of $4.5 million in general operating funds. Texas grantees include DiverseWorks and Project Row Houses (PRH) in Houston and Sala Diaz in San Antonio. Each grantee organization receives $50,000.
According to the Ruth Arts website, previous Artist Choice grant winners, nominated by artists from around the country, were eligible to apply to the Core Grants program. PRH and Sala Diaz won Artist Choice grants in 2022. DiverseWorks received Core Grants in 2022 and 2023. Grant applicants were asked a guiding question, “How can improvisation, irresolution, and relationality guide us toward a collective future?”
DiverseWorks has operated in Houston for 42 years. It was founded in 1982 by artists including Charles Gallagher, Billy Hassell, and Doug Laguarta. Programming has evolved to include visual art exhibitions, music events, community forums, a lecture and studio visit program, and an off-site performance art project.
Aerial View of Project Row Houses in 2015. Photo: Peter Molick, courtesy of Project Row Houses.
PRH has hosted contemporary, and focused on bringing cultural and neighborhood development programming to Houston’s Historic Third Ward since 1993, when artists James Bettison, Bert Long, Jr., Jesse Lott, Rick Lowe, Floyd Newsum, Bert Samples and George Smith came together on the initiative inspired by influential Houston artist and educator Dr. John Biggers.
In their social media post about receiving the grant, PRH cited Ruth Arts’ “inventive approaches to philanthropy that are rooted in creativity, experimentation, and access.”
Sala Diaz
In a celebratory social media post, Sala Diaz Director Ethel Shipton said, “The Ruth Foundation has played a key role in supporting Sala Diaz’s growth” as the longstanding nonprofit started by artist Alejandro Diaz approaches its 30th anniversary. Sala Diaz was recently gifted a building next door to its central San Antonio home that will house resident artists and provide a flow of income for the institution.
See the full list of grant recipients via the Ruth Arts website.
Recent Comments