ArtsWave awards $317K to fund local arts, cultural projects

ArtsWave has awarded $316,916 through 56 Catalyzing Impact grants to fund arts and cultural projects across Greater Cincinnati. These grants will support performances, community art installations and other creative initiatives.

The ArtsWave Board of Directors approved the grants after a competitive review process. The Catalyzing Impact program invites all nonprofits to propose arts projects that align with ArtsWave’s Blueprint for Collective Action.

“These grants reflect ArtsWave’s commitment to building an inclusive arts community that represents the diversity of our region,” said Alecia Kintner, president and CEO of ArtsWave. “By funding projects from youth education to senior engagement, we ensure that the arts remain a vital part of community life.”

Five Warren County organizations received funding through donations from the local community as part of ArtsWave’s effort to let donors support projects in their own areas. These include:

• Neighborhood Play Expansion 2025 – A summer camp by Back2Back Ministries featuring trauma-informed arts and educational activities.
• Royal Education Series – Theater education courses from Royal Theatre Company covering performance, technical skills and creative development.
• Summer Youth Camp and Fall Clinics – A youth music camp by Springboro Wind Symphony to launch the Springboro Youth Wind Symphony.
• ArtScape Lebanon Pottery Studio – Pottery classes and cultural education offered by the Warren County Arts Council.
• Lebanon Festival of the Arts – A community arts festival presented by the Warren County Historical Society.

The rest of the local award winners are below. Grants ranged in value from $2,000 to $10,000. 

The Catalyzing Impact grant program receives partial funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and relies primarily on the annual ArtsWave Community Campaign. This year’s campaign seeks to raise more than $12.5 million to support the arts sector.

“Every dollar contributed to the ArtsWave campaign helps create experiences that enrich our community,” Kintner said. “These grants show how public support for the arts sparks creativity and connection across the region.”

FY2025 Catalyzing Impact Grants

• A Picture’s Worth | More Than Meets the Eye – $6,000
• Activities Beyond the Classroom | ABC Clubs – $5,000
• Adopt A Class Foundation | The Curtain Rises – $2,500
• Art Academy of Cincinnati | Cincinnati Unveiled – $10,000
• ARTE | Hope & Unity Wall – $7,000
• ArtScape Lebanon | Pottery Studio – $10,000
• Arts Equity Collective | SOS Symposium – $4,125
• Artsville | The Sound of Us – $5,000
• Aves Theatre Boosters | The Cutting-EDGE – $3,000
• Back2Back Ministries | Neighborhood Play – $9,000
• Ballet and Books | Ballet & Books Cincinnati – $4,000
• CET | The Art Show 2.0 – $10,000
• Chamber Music Cincinnati | Come Together – $10,000
• Cincinnati Art Club | Art for Kids – $7,000
• Cincinnati Arts Association | Sensory-Friendly SchoolTime – $10,000
• Cincinnati Black Theatre Company | “The WIZ” – $10,000
• Cincinnati Nature Center | Earth Expressions – $3,000
• Cincinnati Pride | Pride Festival Main Music Stage – $10,000
• Cincinnati Song Initiative | Fellowship of the Song – $7,000
• Cincinnati Lapidary Guild | Lapidary Arts Programming – $10,000
• Cincinnati String Project | Youth Concerts – $2,000
• The Clifton Community Players | Eco Tales – $7,500
• Commonwealth Artists Student Theatre | Regional Theatre Program – $10,000
• Community Learning Center Institute | Jaguar Creates Arts Expansion – $2,000
• Community Matters Cincinnati | Outerspace Exhibition – $7,500
• Corporation for Findlay Market | Patterns of Care – $10,000
• Covington Ladies Home | Opening Minds Through Art – $3,891
• Creative Asian Society | Views of Cincinnati – $2,000
• CUF Neighborhood Association | Bellevue Pavilion Concerts – $6,000
• Dearborn Highlands Arts Council | Library Classics – $2,000
• Fluidity | Mozart for the People – $1,000
• The Ghostlight Stage Company | World AIDS Day Project – $4,500
• Greater Cincinnati/NKY African American Chamber of Commerce | Business Basics – $5,000
• Hear 2 Heal | Musical Workshop Camp – $5,000
• Inspiration Studios | Jefferson Neighborhood Art Installation – $5,000
• Keep Cincinnati Beautiful | Outside the Box – $5,000
• Lincoln Heights Outreach | Creative Heights Art Explorers – $10,000
• Lloyd Library & Museum | African Plant Diaspora Exhibit – $6,000
• Maketank | Illustrated Memoir Project – $5,000
• National Commission for Black Arts | Summertime Kids Art Initiative – $6,000
• Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation | Celebrating Pride Mural Series – $5,000
• Peaslee Neighborhood Center | Learning and Living Creatively – $5,000
• ProjectArt | Cincinnati Expansion – $1,400
• Queen City Freedom Band | Homecoming Concert – $2,760
• Queer Kentucky | Queer Community Action Guide – $5,000
• Royal Theatre Company | Royal Education Series – $2,790
• SingOUT Cincy | CaBOOret – $2,150
• Soulful Change | We Are Here – $2,200
• Springboro Wind Symphony | Summer Youth Camp and Clinics – $8,000
• Studio Kroner | All Else Pales 2 – $7,000
• Sweet Sistah Splash | AfroArt After Dark – $5,000
• YWCA Hamilton | HERstory & HERitage – $5,000
• Urban Native Collective | Indigenous People’s Day Convergence – $7,500
• Viva Voices Choral Organization | An Appalachian Spring – $4,600
• Warren County Historical Society | Lebanon Festival of the Arts – $5,000
• Weavers Guild of Greater Cincinnati | The Gathering of the Guilds – $10,000