Last month, ArtsWave awarded a $10.4 million investment in arts and cultural institutions throughout the Greater Cincinnati region, including 21 Catalyzing Impact grants to bring new programming and events to life around Cincinnati. Grant decisions are made by a committee of community volunteers according to the standards found in the ArtsWave Blueprint for Collective Action.

Now, we want to take a closer look at some of the programs made possible by Catalyzing Impact Grants drawn from the 2017 Annual Community Campaign.

ArtsWave is proud to recognize the following grant recipients:

Art on the Streets was awarded $3,000 to support the BLINK Ride on October 12th, a citizen-designed and co-created mobile spectacle of bike riders that will join the 20 block wide interactive art festivities of BLINK.

Artsy Fartsy was awarded $5,625 to develop a youth-led and youth-designed book through their summer program. At-risk youths will explore themes of storytelling, and each child’s work will be featured. Dos Madres Press will help publish the book.

Cincy Stories was awarded $11,250 weave storytelling together with community and real estate development in Price Hill to build sustainable change. The project will create video documentaries and create a storefront space, inviting residents and neighborhood visitors to share their stories and experiences with each other in real time. The Price Hill Story Gallery just opened to the public. You can stop in any time from noon-7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday until the end of October to share your story.

City Silence was awarded $4,500 to support Mindful Music Moment workshops for educators, where they can learn how to integrate elements of calm and focus into the classroom that can elevate cognitive functioning.

University of Cincinnati Foundation/UC Blue Ash College was awarded $2,500 to feature promotional materials designed by 24 UC Blue Ash students for non-profit community partners as part of their coursework in an exhibition in April 2018.

Film Cincinnati was awarded $11,250 to host a three-part speaker series called "Behind the Screen.” Actors, producers, directors, and crew will share stories about building their film careers in Cincinnati what a robust media industry can do to impact the region.

Global Music & Wellness was awarded $10,000 to create a cross-cultural event at the Cincinnati Art Museum featuring Bhutanese, Nepali, and Indian dance, Burundi drumming, and Appalachian poetry.

Greater Cincinnati Chinese Music Society was awarded $2,175 to present the 2017 Greater Cincinnati Youth Chinese Music Festival on Sunday, October 15, at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The festival will feature vocal and instrumental competitions as well as performances and a master class by 12 professional musicians from the Music Institute of Liaoning Normal University. The musicians will travel from China to share their professional skills and knowledge with youth from all backgrounds in the Cincinnati area.

Heroes Rise was awarded $2,500 to present an urban street dance festival in partnership with The Mockbee and Agricultural Society of Hamilton County.

i.imagine, Inc. was awarded $11,250 to build a student-created photomosaic installation. Students will create digital photo images to be printed on ceramic tiles and installed as a mosaic wall in their community. The wall will be i.imagine's exhibition for the 2018 FotoFocus Biennial.

Jazz Alive was awarded $2,250 to expand its in-school jazz programming to reach more school age children outside of the classroom by including recreation centers and churches for after-school and summer programming.

Lynx Project was awarded $3,000 to support the Autism Advocacy Project (AAP). They will commission texts written by four young men with non-verbal autism and turn them into song. Lynx Project will collaborate with the Cincinnati Art Museum for a sensory-friendly performance on October 28 at the museum's Autism Family Exploration Day.

Middletown Lyric Theatre was awarded $7,500 to support the creation of an Ensemble Theatre Company and open a creative space for artists to explore the rhetoric of identity, religion, economics, politics, and culture, encouraging adaptations and works of art that recast these constructs to engender cross-cultural participation.

Moon Bull Studio was awarded $12,000 to present "Brothers of Invention," a story of Wilbur and Orville Wright spanning their childhood fascination with flight to their first successful demonstration. "Brothers of Invention" will bring contemporary puppet theater to Cincinnati.

NrityArpana School of Performing Arts was awarded $12,000 to present "World Dance Cincinnati,” a performance festival focusing on strengthening and highlighting the diverse and global city of Cincinnati through dance. The festival occurs on April 29, World Dance Day.

POPP=D Art was awarded $2,600 to create a roving art studio and project space that will build community through engagement with art. Artists will be on hand to set-up, interact, and instruct throughout each session. Check their website to learn about upcoming events.

School House Symphony was awarded $2,508 to help modernize and preserve its large library of specially arranged music composed for the unique instrumentation of the SHS ensemble.

SOS Art was awarded $5,250 to organize and curate a show of 20 contemporary prints from Oaxaca, Mexico at the Kennedy Heights Arts Center. One of the exhibiting artists will be invited to Cincinnati to give a talk about the arts scene in Oaxaca and its connection to local culture and social issues.

Urban Appalachian Community Coalition was awarded $5,000 to provide year-round community arts activities and public performances in collaboration with and celebration of the 2018 Appalachian Studies Association Conference on April 5-8 in Cincinnati.

WordPlay Cincy was awarded $15,000 develop a writing and literacy pilot program with Aiken High School for all students in grades 7-12. It will provide students with school-day access to the new WordPlay Writer's Room, a dedicated Creative Opportunity Hub where students can attend workshops and self-directed creative projects in the literary, visual, and performing arts during study halls, lunch periods, and after school.

Young Professionals Choral Collective was awarded $5,000 to support a strategic planning process guided by seasoned, professional facilitators. Young professionals will participate in all levels of this process as YPCC will engage its Board, singers, volunteers, and partners.

To learn more about ArtsWave's Catalyzing Impact Grant Program or other funding opportunities available, visit http://www.artswave.org/apply-for-funding.