Spartanburg creative placemaking project a finalist for national grant
The Mayfair Creativity Mill project in the Arcadia neighborhood of Spartanburg County is among the 97 finalists — out of the 1,270 letters of inquiry — to be considered for a 2014 ArtPlace America grant to support creative placemaking. In each of the proposed projects, the arts will play an explicit and intentional role in helping to shape a community’s social, physical, and economic futures.
This is the first time that a South Carolina project has been given consideration by ArtPlace, a national collaboration dedicated to strengthening the field of creative placemaking. Grantees will be announced in June 2014.
The Spartanburg project, spearheaded by the Chapman Cultural Center (The Arts Partnership), would help develop the Mayfair Creativity Mill, a 15,000-square-foot community-based arts center located within an abandoned textile mill that will drive the educational, economic, and social development of a low-income, high-minority neighborhood. The Mayfair Creativity Mill is part of an $8 million repurposing project by Georgia-based developer Pace Burt. The Creativity Mill is being incorporated into Phase 2 of the Mayfair Mill Loft complex in which a second Arcadia mill on Hayne Street will be renovated for loft apartments. The first phase of the project renovated what was known as the Baily Plant, located at 100 West Cleveland St.
“We are very excited about the invitation to apply for major funding to help bring the arts to the citizens living in Arcadia and surrounding neighborhoods,” President and CEO of Chapman Cultural Center Jennifer Evins said. “Mr. Burt is a visionary developer to include the arts in his project to drive community transformation, and we are thrilled to be his partner. Chapman Cultural Center has partnered with Arcadia Elementary School for more than 20 years providing arts education programs. We are excited to be able to bring what we are already doing at the Chapman Cultural Center to help this community economically and socially. We hope this Creativity Mill will be a community-based model that can be replicated in mill villages across the county and the country.”
ArtPlace America is a collaboration among 14 foundations, eight federal agencies, and six financial institutions. To date, ArtPlace has invested $42.1 million to 134 projects in 80 communities of all sizes across the U.S.
Via: Chapman Cultural Center