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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:red">This email is being distributed over the OMS listserv. All responses will be over the listserv.<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><a href="https://www.arts.gov/news/2019/funding-and-technical-assistance-available-rural-communities"><span style="font-weight:normal">Funding
and Technical Assistance Available for Rural Communities</span></a></span></b></span><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt">
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt">National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2019 Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<i><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Jackson, MS</span></i><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">—National Endowment for the Arts Director of Design and Creative Placemaking Jennifer Hughes announced today the opening of the 2019
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.arts.gov/national-initiatives/citizens-institute-rural-design">Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design<span style="background:white">™</span></a></span><span style="background:white"> (CIRD) with a call for applications
to the program. </span>Since 1991, this <span style="background:white">National Endowment for the Arts program has offered funding and technical assistance to communities with populations of 50,000 or less to
</span>address local challenges related to economic vitality and quality of life through design solutions<span style="background:white">.
</span><b>The application deadline is July 22, 2019.</b><span style="background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";background:white">Hughes’ announcement took place at
</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">the <span class="MsoHyperlink">
<a href="https://ruralgeneration.org/national-summit/">Rural Generation Summit</a></span> in Jackson, Mississippi, a gathering of national arts and cultural leaders working in rural places that is funded in part by the Arts Endowment. The summit support and
CIRD announcement are two examples of the Arts Endowment’s commitment to advancing the arts in rural communities. Rural arts resources from the Arts Endowment and others are
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Rural_resources_for_CIRD2019.pdf">here</a></span>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">“The National Endowment for the Arts has a long history of funding arts and cultural activities in rural communities,” said Arts Endowment Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter. “This is especially important considering
that private dollars routinely bypass rural America. The National Endowment for the Arts, with its state and regional partners, provide funding in 25 percent of the countries across the nation that the top 1,000 private foundations do not.”<span style="background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";background:white">New this year to the CIRD program is
</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">a peer learning component for rural leaders that
</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">features <span style="color:black;background:white;mso-highlight:white">
training in design, planning, community engagement, and facilitation techniques as well as support in navigating funding</span><span style="color:black"> opportunities. The Arts Endowment anticipates funding three local design workshops and up to 20 additional
communities in the peer learning program.</span><span style="background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";background:white">The Arts Endowment welcomes</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333">
</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";background:white">the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) and buildingcommunityWORKSHOP ([bc]) as its new partners in CIRD and thanks Project for Public Spaces and the Orton Family Foundation for their six-year
management of the program. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">David Lipsetz, CEO at the Housing Assistance Council said, “Here at the Housing Assistance Council, we’ve been working in community development for decades and we are thrilled to be bridging the gap between
that and rural design. CIRD is an amazing opportunity for rural communities across the nation, and we are so eager to see the breadth of ideas, leadership, and creativity that they will bring forward.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Examples of past CIRD projects include:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt"> </span>
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">In <u>Greenville, Mississipp</u>i (population 34,400) the workshop challenge was to engage the community and local leaders in visioning for improvements to the central business district by restoring vacant properties
and adding housing and commercial spaces. Discussions in the Delta region tend to center on how to attract industry or tourism (especially with the Delta Hot Tamale Festival and the Delta Blues & Heritage Festival), but rarely on how to attract and retain
residents. Conversations also focused on equitable development with local communities of color and on cultivating local entrepreneurship.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt"> </span>
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">In <u>Las Vegas, New Mexico</u> (population: 13,753) the workshop challenge was to develop a revitalization plan for the local Gallinas River, a neglected but invaluable natural resource. The workshop produced
design concepts for Gallinas River Park, with short term outcomes including <span style="color:#211D1E">
building a straw bale amphitheater to test out permanent amphitheater locations and creating interpretive signs designed by high school students.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt"> </span>
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">In <u>Valentine, Nebraska</u> (population: 2,800) the workshop challenge was how to design a seven-block stretch of Main St./Highway 83 to balance pedestrian activity and truck traffic and to develop strong relationships
with the Nebraska Department of Transportation. The community was very engaged in the planning process and NDOT noted that the process could become a model for state-led Main Street projects throughout the state.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Information on how to apply to CIRD is posted
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/How_to_submit_CIRD_application.pdf">here</a></span>. Read more about CIRD’s <span class="MsoHyperlink"><b><span style="color:windowtext;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><a href="https://www.rural-design.org/where-we-work"><span style="font-weight:normal">successful
past workshops</span></a></span></b></span> and explore the <span class="MsoHyperlink"><b><span style="color:windowtext;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><a href="https://www.rural-design.org/resources/search"><span style="font-weight:normal">resource-rich
website </span></a></span></b></span>gathered from diverse organizations across the country.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#333333"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;background:white">About the National Endowment for the Arts</span></strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#333333"><br>
<span style="background:white">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. For more information, visit </span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:brown;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;background:white"><a href="http://www.arts.gov/"><span style="color:brown;font-weight:normal">www.arts.gov</span></a></span></b></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#333333;background:white">.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#333333;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">The <b>Housing Assistance Council</b>
<b>(</b></span><b><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#1155CC"><a href="http://www.ruralhome.org/"><span style="color:#1155CC">HAC</span></a></span></u></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">) is a national nonprofit that strengthens communities
across rural America through investment and assistance with affordable housing and community and economic development. Based in Washington, DC, HAC is actively involved in shaping federal policy and the affordable housing industry with its research, lending
and conferences. We also deliver technical assistance, training and affordable loans to local organizations that help rural communities prosper.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Normal1" style="line-height:normal"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">buildingcommunityWORKSHOP</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">
(</span><b><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1155CC"><a href="http://www.bcworkshop.org/"><span style="color:#1155CC">[bc]</span></a></span></u></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">)
is a Texas based nonprofit community design center seeking to improve the livability and viability of communities through the practice of thoughtful design and making. We enrich the lives of citizens by bringing design thinking to areas of our cities where
resources are most scarce. To do so, [bc] recognizes that it must first understand the social, economic, and environmental issues facing a community before beginning work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#333333;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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