CHICAGO, IL (May 18, 2022) – The National Endowment for the Arts has announced 52 grants to Chicago and Illinois organizations totally $2,172,510. Urban Gateways has been approved for a $20,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the NEA to support media arts programs at Street Level. Urban Gateways’ program is among 1,125 projects across America totaling more than $26.6 million that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2022 funding.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts and cultural organizations throughout the nation with these grants, including Urban Gateways, providing opportunities for all of us to live artful lives,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “The arts contribute to our individual well-being, the well-being of our communities, and to our local economies. The arts are also crucial to helping us make sense of our circumstances from different perspectives as we emerge from the pandemic and plan for a shared new normal informed by our examined experience.”
“We are grateful for this vital support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts so that young people in our Street Level media arts programs can continue growing and exploring through the arts. Support from the NEA is extremely important in allowing us to continue delivering high-quality arts experiences for the youth of Chicago,” explains Tanya Jaramilla, Urban Gateways’ Chief Operations Officer.
Young people’s voices are often underrepresented in the media; Street Level is a place for them to make art, express their ideas, and tell their stories through multimedia art forms. Media arts programs at Street Level promote self-expression, communication, and social change.
For more information contact Abigail Prescott, Chief Communications Officer, at 312.445.2755 or aprescott@urbangateways.org.
Urban Gateways engages young people in arts experiences to inspire creativity and impact social change. Street Level is a program of Urban Gateways; young people at Street Level learn about video production, audio and music production, stop-motion animation, digital journalism, photography, graphic arts, and new media. Street Level instructors lead classes and workshops at our multimedia center at 1637 North Ashland Avenue, and at partnering schools and community-based organizations throughout Chicago.