Announcing the 2008 Chinatown Arts Initiative Guidelines & Application

Click Here to download English application form.
Click Here to download Chinese application form.

APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED:
Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Chinatown Arts Initiative (CAI) is a program of the Asian American Arts Alliance in partnership with C.R.E.A.T.E. in Chinatown, Inc. (Committee to Revitalize and Enrich the Arts and Tomorrow’s Economy).The program was initiated with funding from the September 11th Fund. Its purpose is to support Asian American arts groups that do not have access to mainstream funding, but that play an active and integral role in Manhattan’s Chinatown community. CAI is designed to contribute to Chinatown’s continuing revitalization by supporting the neighborhood’s rich artistic and cultural community. The second year of the grant program has two parts:

1) CAI will award grants of up to $2,500 to groups based in Manhattan’s Chinatown, for artistic projects in any discipline.

2) Those groups selected to receive an award will also have the opportunity to: a) gain marketing guidance from one of the project’s consultants, and b) to receive in-kind services for one of the following: a professional photo shoot; a promotional video; or a print piece such as a poster or brochure.

Application Deadline Extended: October 1st, 2008

Chinatown Arts Initiative (CAI) 2007

The Chinatown Arts Initiative (CAI) is a special project designed to help to revitalize Chinatown's cultural sector through grants to small arts groups in the neighborhood.

In its first year, CAI provided grants of $500 - $2,000 to Asian American performing arts groups, including Peking opera and Cantonese opera groups. A total of $25,000 was awarded to eighteen different groups (see full list below). CAI particularly reaches out to traditional Chinese opera groups, who have a longstanding history in New York tracing back to the city's earliest Chinese immigrants. Many societies have kept these art forms alive in the city for decades, despite severe financial and infrastructural challenges.

The Alliance recognizes the significance of these groups to the community's cultural life. The neighborhood's economy and culture suffered devastating effects after September 11, 2001, a reality that went largely unrecognized in the public eye. With funding from the September 11th Fund of the New York Community Trust, the Alliance provides these grants for costumes, props, or technical equipment that are key to the practice and sustenance of their art form.

In its second year, CAI will expand to include a branding and marketing project for the arts in Chinatown, as well as a larger and more competitive regrant program.

Press Release 2007 - English

Press Release 2007 - Chinese