The Arts & Science Council on Thursday announced its latest round of Cultural Vision Grants, awarded to local artists and organizations to support arts, science, history and heritage programming that builds community, addresses community issues and/or innovates with new groundbreaking work. 

This round of Cultural Vision Grants, the first of the fiscal year 2024, will go to 46 recipients selected to receive a combined $759,975 in funding, according to a release sent out on Wednesday, with 27 of the projects led by and/or serving communities that have historically been under-resourced, including African, Latinx, Asian, Arab and Native American (ALAANA), LGBTQ and disability communities.

Grants awarded range from $6,000 to $20,000.

“These awards highlight the work ASC continues to do to support the cultural community, including investing in artists and creative organizations of all sizes through an equity lens,” said ASC vice president of community and artist support Adam Santalla Pierce in the release. 

“ASC appreciates the support of our public and private donors for partnering with us to invest in creative projects that foster community pride, engage school-aged children and increase the visibility of arts and culture throughout Charlotte-Mecklenburg.” 

We’ve include the full list of new Cultural Vision Grant recipients below so you can check out their work, along with the projects that the grants will support: 

• American Capoeira Foundation: $17,000 to support Sua Casa, a festival highlighting the importance of the African Diaspora through food, interactive activations, literary arts, capoeira and samba. 

• PJ Barnes: $10,250 to establish a central hub for comedic performances and nurture talent on the all-new Charlotte Comedy Network. 

• Black Girls Film Camp: $20,000 to support the education, curation and showcase of short films directed by adolescent Black girls during The Black Girls Film Camp Premiere Weekend in spring 2024. 

• BreatheINK: $20,000 to support a two-day youth poetry festival in Charlotte in April 2024 as part of National Poetry Month that will bring together youth poets and poets laureate from throughout North and South Carolina. 

• Charlotte Dragon Boat Association: $15,000 to support the annual Charlotte Dragon Boat and Asian Festivals in May 2024 in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

• Charlotte Journalism Collaborative: $20,000 to support new mediums of distributing news and information about critical issues in our community by partnering with local artists to create zines about affordable housing, local government and gun violence. 

• Charlotte Pride Band: $20,000 to support two Charlotte Pride Band concerts focusing on music by diverse composers — including LGBTQIA+ composers, BIPOC composers and female composers — to celebrate diversity and promote inclusion and cultural understanding. 

• CineOdyssey Film Festival: $12,500 to support the CineOdyssey Animafest, which celebrates and gives voice to filmmakers, animators and content creators from the African, Caribbean, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous diasporas, as well as the U.S. 

• Culture Queens: $20,000 to support the inclusion of BIPOC women in the arts and culture community in the Queens March Women’s History Month celebration at the Bechtler Museum on March 6, 2024. 

• Dionne D. Hunter: $9,500 to support the building of community by nurturing, celebrating and supporting creative expressions from community-minded artists while exposing historically excluded BIPOC communities, women, girls and others to the beauty of the fine arts. 

• Embrace All Latino Voices: $10,000 to support the bridging of cultural divides by capturing and sharing diverse childhood memories, games and arts through the BrincART initiative, culminating in a community event in east Charlotte and a playbook with curated cultural products. 

• Friday’s Dope: $20,000 to support the launch of the Melanated Moguls program series that includes monthly mixers, workshops and pop-up community events and culminates with a festival celebrating Afrofuturism. 

• Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte: $20,000 to support a pilot project aimed at gauging demand and cultivating a dedicated audience for LGBTQ+ narratives in theatre.

• JazzArts Charlotte: $13,000 to support Nuestro Tiempo Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble spring 2024 session, celebrating the music and culture of Charlotte’s Latino community. 

• La Casa de la Cultura: $20,000 to support the Cultural Afro Latinx Celebration, which celebrates Afro-Latinx heritage while promoting a sense of inclusion and diversity through traditions and folkloric manifestations regarding history, music and dances. 

• Loose Leaves Legacy: $20,000 to support diverse dance artists’ creation of innovative and groundbreaking work by holding two choreographic showcases in 2024. 

• Lorien Academy of the Arts: $20,000 to support the sustainment of seven after-school art clubs at Title 1 schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools through the spring semester of 2023-24 school year and to launch three additional clubs. 

• Nadia Meadows: $20,000 to support the Charlotte community by displaying sculptures quarterly that will be interactive and meaningful while encouraging a positive impact and equitable gain for youth and artists programs. 

• Movement Migration: $16,000 to support movement cultures and nurture the creative expression of the dance and non-dance populations in Mecklenburg through movement classes, workshops and an informal showing. 

• North Carolina Baroque Orchestra: $20,000 to support the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra’s historically-informed performance of 17th- and 18th-century music on period instruments to bring new life to old music and enhance engagement for all audiences. 

• Open Door Dance Foundation: $20,000 to support Expand Movement’s Fall Inclusive Dance Performance and the classes that will perform at the event. 

• Performing Arts And Literary Society: $7,000 to support the promotion and showcase of culturally based stories using the performing arts as a means to raise awareness of Black communities, history and talents. 

• Playing For Others: $20,000 to support PFO’s winter/spring 2023-2024 arts programming, including rehearsals, workshops, outings and pop-ups designed for a diverse group of teens and children with disabilities 

• Queen City Robotics Alliance: $20,000 to support an equitable science culture by empowering low-income youth through community outreach and STEAM interest exploration. 

• Irlanda Ruiz: $6,325 to support the stories of Latino Women Cancer Survivors through a series of writing workshops, publishing their work in a book. 

• SHAE Movement African Arts: $10,000 to support exploration and connection of cultural celebrations of Black History Month and Juneteenth to traditional West African practices through history, dance and drum. 

• Smithville CommUNITY Coalition: $12,850 to support Don’t Lose Heart, a live storytelling production that uses poetry, digital media and music to unearth and amplify untold stories about Black communities in Mecklenburg County. 

• The Royal City Collaboration Corp: $20,000 to support the development and facilitation of Pulse, a streamlined series of culture events led by Charlotte BIPOC creatives culminating in a two-day BIPOC indie festival spotlighting the city’s rich talent in music, art, fashion, film, dance and cuisine. 

• Tosco Music: $20,000 to support Viva La Música, a series of free public music performances with an emphasis on inviting, welcoming and engaging Charlotte’s large and diverse Hispanic/Latino(x) community, designed to increase access to the arts and foster experiences of inclusion. 

These grants mark ASC’s second funding announcement of Fiscal Year 2024. On Nov. 8, the organization announced 71 creative recipients in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region will receive a combined $205,070 in funding through ASC Artist Support Grants (ASG). 

ASC Cultural Vision Grants are supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, Mecklenburg  County, the city of Charlotte’s Infusion Fund and individual donors to ASC. 

ASC will open up a new Cultural Vision Grant opportunity in spring 2024.