Bakehouse Art Complex Awarded $100K From National Endowment For The Arts
Bakehouse Art Complex is proud to announce that it is one of 57 projects selected nationally from among 157 eligible applicants to receive funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant program. Bakehouse will receive $100,000 to support architecture and design services related to the redesign of the Bakehouse Art Complex in the Wynwood Norte neighborhood of Miami. The project will engage artists, Wynwood Norte stakeholders, and other community members whose perspectives will inform how the organization’s facilities can better serve artists and the community as a whole.
"When Bakehouse Art Complex opened its doors to the public in 1986, I was just beginning my public service career in the City of Miami," said Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart. "Thirty-seven years later, I am thrilled that Bakehouse is the recipient of the highly prestigious Our Town grant, awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts. I commend Bakehouse Art Complex for its commitment to our artists and community, and I look forward to its continued growth in Florida's 26th Congressional District."
Our Town is the NEA’s creative placemaking grants program. The program advances local economic, physical, or social outcomes in communities, ultimately laying the groundwork for systems change and centering equity. Matching grants in this category range from $25,000 to $150,000 and support projects that will take place in 34 states. Our Town projects require a partnership between a nonprofit organization and a local government entity, with one of the partners being a cultural organization. Project-based funding will support activities that integrate arts, culture, and design into local efforts that strengthen communities.
“We are so grateful to the NEA for this grant, enabling us to work with the City, artists, and the community to think about how we redesign our main facility and consider the future of our live-work campus in Wynwood Norte. Mayor Francis X. Suarez’s letter of support was critical to this application,” said Cathy Leff, Executive Director of Bakehouse Art Complex. “We look forward to our ongoing partnership with the City.”
"The City of Miami’s District 5 continues to be recognized as a community with a deep history dedicated to arts and culture. Bakehouse Art Complex’s much deserved award from the National Endowment for the Arts is a testament to the importance of District 5’s legacy continuing. The complex’s support of Miami artists and serving its community will also continue thanks to this award. I look forward to collaborating as they shape their future campus with the new funds,” commented City of Miami Chairwoman and District 5 Commissioner Christine King.
Bakehouse will use funds to address the design for the renovation of its main building as a model center for art making and other public-facing and community-serving spaces. For the past five years, Bakehouse has been advancing its vision to create a community-embedded and embraced, live-work, cultural campus, anchored by a community of working artists that will anchor the neighborhood economically.
About the National Endowment for the Arts
Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the Arts Endowment supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. To learn more, visit arts.gov or follow us on Twitter,Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
About Bakehouse Art Complex
Bakehouse envisions a world that supports and values artists and recognizes their ability to shape, reflect, and transform our world. Its mission is to address the need for affordable living and work spaces for artists in Miami’s urban core. Bakehouse Art Complex is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts institution.
Since its inception in 1986, the Bakehouse Art Complex has provided emerging and mid-career artists with the opportunity to explore and develop their artistic endeavors. Visitors may meet artists, especially during quarterly Open Studios, and have the opportunity to discuss or observe their creative process.
The Bakehouse Board and staff are committed to investing in and growing transformational relationships with a community of multicultural, multigenerational, and multidisciplinary artists whose practices can inform, engage, and change our community. As a cultural anchor rooted in place, we aim to reflect the diversity of the Wynwood Norte neighborhood where we are based and the city of Miami as a whole. We are committed to cultivating an environment that is inclusive of all, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation, or gender.
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