Roosevelt Row up for $15,000 National Grant from Ovation TV

This January, Ovation Television Network is looking to award a community project in the U.S. a "viewer's choice" Innovation Grant by popular vote. The InnOVATION Grant Program was born from its short docu-series "Motor City Rising," which features a group of artists working to revitalize parts of Detroit. Producers realized...

By Claire Lawton

December 19, 2012

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This January, Ovation Television Network is looking to award a community project in the U.S. a "viewer's choice" Innovation Grant by popular vote.

The InnOVATION Grant Program was born from its short docu-series "Motor City Rising," which features a group of artists working to revitalize parts of Detroit.

Producers realized there must be more creative projects like it around the country and have narrowed entries down to 64 national finalists -- one being Roosevelt Row CDC's A.R.T.S. program.

The A.R.T.S. (Adaptive Re-use of Temporary Space) is a program that aims to activate Downtown's many vacant lots through public art and community events.

"With over 40% vacant land in the heart of the Roosevelt Row Arts District, we've witnessed how these voids can disrupt a neighborhood's sense of community, reduce quality of life, and create unsightly blight on our urban landscape," write Roosevelt Row board members. "Since the program was launched, A.R.T.S. has successfully activated 15 empty parcels with meaningful, creative and educational projects that bring the community together in the empty spaces that once divided it."

If the A.R.T.S. Market project wins the grant, board members say it will partner with a local architect to retrofit a portable shipping container to create an information booth to distribute arts district way-finding materials and to serve as a hub for the new Bioscience High School / Roosevelt Row Arts District student ambassadors. The money will also fund planters with low-water, desert adapted trees, and portable installations, sculpture, and performance by local artists.

To vote for Roosevelt Row, visit (and "like") Ovation's Facebook page and enter the Innovation Grant voting page. Voting closes January 31. The winner will be announced in January.

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