Arts Council gets grant for revitalization work in Old South Baton Rouge

The Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge has been awarded a prestigious $300,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation to fund cultural district planning in the economically challenged Old South Baton Rouge neighborhood that falls between LSU and downtown.

The grant will allow the Arts Council and Center for Planning Excellence to collaborate on developing a feasibility study and master implementation plan to redevelop the neighborhood as a cultural district, anchored by the concurrent revitalization of the historic Lincoln Theatre.

The grant also will fund a replicable community model able to guide similar cultural place-making efforts in other Louisiana communities.

“We are honored and delighted to be recipients of the highly selective Kresge Foundation grant,” said Derek E. Gordon, Arts Council president and CEO. “The grant will have enormous impact, ensuring that our efforts are as relevant, efficient, and sustainable as possible.”

Laura Larkin, Arts Council Grants and Community Development director, oversaw the grant proposal that received the award. She will assist Gordon in managing the funded revitalization planning project.

The two-year project will kick off in September with compilation of baseline data, a series of planning workshops with stakeholders and a nationwide request for proposal to hire professional creative place-making consultants.

The Kresge Foundation, based in Troy, Mich., is considered the gold standard in the philanthropic arena.

The $3 billion private, national foundation seeks to improve the quality of life for future generations through seven programs: arts and culture, community development, Detroit, education, environment, health, and human services.

The Foundation’s ‘Arts and Community Building’ grant recognizes the power of arts and culture to recharge and rebuild communities of all sizes throughout the United States.

For more information, call [phone] or visit http://www.artsbr.org.

Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge