January 12, 2023 — Today, the City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA) announced that it is awarding $30,000 in grants to 12 individuals and nonprofit organizations who’ve imagined their work in the digital realm utilizing streaming services, virtual reality, and digital curation to deliver manifested live concerts, theatre performances, and literary concepts; all in online-only platforms. One day later the City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA) awarded $62,500 in grants to 7 individuals and nonprofit organizations whose work furthers cultural tourism and resilience in the city.
“The grantees this quarter solidify our city’s image as an Arts City,” says Mayor Sylvester Turner. “We are not just a Space City or Bayou City, but because of the incredible amount of talent and diverse type of arts that can be found and supported by the city, we are also an Arts City.”
Neighborhood Cultural Destinations
Highlights and presents cultural heritage in a particular neighborhood. Project should incorporate community voices, knowledge, and interest. Projects in this category will connect tourists to places and people that make Houston a unique destination.
Conference Tourism
Clearly defined partnership with a significant conference that produces an activity featuring artists or arts and culture attractions in urban communities. Projects in this category will connect tourists with the city’s creators.
Resilience Awareness
Resiliency denotes a framework for collective action and links existing efforts with new ones that will work together to protect community residents against future disasters – be they natural, man-made or a global pandemic. Projects in this category will leverage arts and culture to creatively engage tourists and local residents in risk awareness, including mitigation and adaptation strategies.
The latest city initiative grantees are a part of The City of Houston Awards $11.5 Million in Grants to Arts and Culture Nonprofit Organizations and Individual Artists:
Rivkah French: “Emulsion”
Emulsion is a new immersive Virtual Reality dance film by Rivkah French that explores the beauty and intimacy of relationships. By shooting and presenting this film with VR technology, Emulsion brings the viewer into the experience of moving with the dancers, rather than viewing them from a distance. Emulsion will be presented in conjunction with neighborhood-focused filmmaking workshops at multiple venues across the 5th Ward, culminating in a public showing of the participants’ self-made films. This grant was awarded under the Neighborhood Cultural Destinations category.
C-STEM Teacher and Student Support Services: “The C-STEM Little Library Free WiFi Public Art Project”
The C-STEM Little Library Free WiFi Public Art Project offers free books to increase STEM literacy and awareness of health/wellness, bridges the digital divide by providing access to the Internet of Things (IoT), beautifies the community, increases usage of underutilized pocket spaces in the community, and creates safer neighborhoods. This grant was awarded under the Neighborhood Cultural Destinations category.
Andrew Davis: “SOLEVISION II”
On June 18, 2023 the second installment of SOLEVISION, “SOLEVISION II”, will occur at Emancipation Park (venue subject to change). The hybrid on-site & digital performance will highlight and draw from conversations held between Houston-based artists Andrew ‘TAME, The Aspiring Me’ Davis, Kazembe “DJ Elevated” Gray & Ariel Bounds. The conversations will expand upon the narrative of the initial SOLEVISION, self-perception, and world reflection, along with the proximity of Juneteenth as it relates to the artists; the culmination of the conversations will be expressed through live performance, mixed media and set design.
