Our Impact
Arts
Celebrating and Supporting Our Cultural Community
The Community Foundation makes grants in three main program areas; in addition, grants to the arts may be made by donors through their donor advised funds.
2023 Art Ventures Individual Artists Grantees – Top Row (left to right): Ithiell Yisrael, Jessica Q. Stark, Andrew Fallon, Emily Cargill, Raquel Benjamin; Bottom Row (left to right): Glenn Van Dyke (Kairos Creature Club), Julian Bryson, Marcus Jamal Williams, Barbara Hionides, Andrew Kozlowski
Art Ventures
More than 30 years ago, donors led a drive to fund grants to small and mid-sized arts organizations and individual artists. Buoyed by a matching grant from the NEA, the Art Ventures Fund was established, and now encompasses five additional endowed funds to support artists. Over the years, the funds have made more than 300 grants.
This funding has also sparked new projects, provided training and learning, and helped build capacity in artistic practices and equity.
“Beyond dollars, TCF strives to create accessible learning opportunities, and provide a platform for professional development.”
– Jennifer Chase, Art Ventures Individual Artist Grantee, 2013
Artist Story: Jennifer Chase
Jennifer Chase, Photo by laird/blac palm, inc.
St. Augustine Plein Air event, Photo by laird/blac palm, inc.
Dr. JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Fund for Visual Art in St. Augustine
Created in memory of artist and philanthropist Dr. JoAnn Crisp-Ellert, the fund supports organizations and projects fulfilling St. Augustine’s distinctive role in celebrating visual art. Grants have been made to support Flagler College’s Crisp-Ellert Museum artist-in-residence program, the St. Augustine Art Association’s plein air events, major traveling exhibitions at the Lightner Museum, and more. Sponsorships for community murals, artist collaboratives, and after-school art projects have all been funded as living memories of an unforgettable patron of the arts.
Ann McDonald Baker Art Ventures Award
Named for community leader and arts philanthropist, the Ann McDonald Baker Art Ventures Award is presented annually to an artist whose artistic excellence brings distinction to Northeast Florida. Winners have been named in various disciplines, and each has made distinctive contributions to the region through their work. This unrestricted prize of $10,000 is unique among community foundations, and one of only a few awarded in the country.
Sarah Crooks, 2023 Ann McDonald Baker Art Ventures Award recipient (middle), with The Honorable Brian J. Davis (left) and daughter of Ann Mcdonald Baker, Sally Lee (right). Photo by laird/blac palm, inc.
“Our mom’s passion was to make her community a better, more beautiful and caring place. The recipients of the Ann Baker Art Ventures Award exemplify this. Each year we celebrate an artist who shows this same devotion to their craft and their community. We are pleased The Community Foundation honored our mom by naming this award for her and allowing her legacy and impact on the community to continue.”
Sally Baker Lee
We are grateful to the generous donors who established the following named funds which support Arts grants at The Community Foundation:
- Art Ventures Endowment Fund
- J. Shepard, Jr. and Mary Ann Bryan Arts Endowment
- Delores Barr Weaver Black Artists Endowment and Delores Barr Weaver Black Arts Organization Fund
- Independent Life Minority Arts Award Fund
- Anne & Sallyn Pajcic Art Ventures Endowment
- Alynne Sharp Art Fund
- JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Fund
- Ann McDonald Baker Art Ventures Award Endowment Fund
- Tom Nehl Fund
Impact Stories
Art Ventures Small Arts Organization Grant
“The ACCORD Museum and Freedom Trail was at a crossroads in 2021. We needed to grow and improve our grant writing and other funding, but we were unsure how to go about it. Through the grant from The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, we are working with nonprofit and grant professionals to create a plan that will increase our recurring and ongoing revenues and give us the confidence to invest them strategically. The knowledge we are gaining will allow us to carry out our mission in the long term, well beyond the grant project!”
– Dalonja Duncan, President
Crisp-Ellert Art Museum
The Crisp-Ellert Art Museum (CEAM) has been the beneficiary of many of the grants from The Community Foundation, including the CEAM Artist Residency program funded by the Dr. JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Fund. The museum’s recent exhibit, ‘The Hotelmen’ was created by Erin Kendrick, a recipient of The Community Foundation’s Art Ventures Individual Artist grant and the Spring 2022 CEAM Artist in Residence. The Foundation helped sponsor the exhibit, which was also supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Art Ventures Individual Artist Grant
Director and choreographer Roxanna Lewis received an Art Ventures Individual Artist Grant in 2020. She used her grant to train in cutting edge film processes to document and circulate her work. “It is vital that such opportunities continue to exist in Northeast Florida so the creative culture of Jax continues to expand and flourish,” she said, “I am forever grateful to The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida for their financial investment in my personal growth, artistic advancement and professional success.”
“The Art Ventures grant made it possible for one of the most important projects in my creative career to come into being and it helped to make Where We Stand accessible to people across the state of Florida and soon to be a national audience. This is invaluable to an artist seeking to continue his or her work and expand their collector base.”
– Lenny Foster, 2021 Art Ventures Grant Recipient
Here to Help
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