Oxford American Magazine Transforming Buildings on LR's Main Street
By: KARK 4 News
Updated: June 12, 2012
A section of Little Rock's fast-changing South Main Street (SOMA) district is getting a look thanks to the Oxford American, a literary magazine of Southern culture.
Oxford will soon transform its new buildings in the SOMA district into a home for diverse arts programming, after receiving a significant grant from ArtPlace.
The space will include a restaurant that will celebrate Southern culinary culture. Accompanying the food will be nightly cultural programming that will feature the best of Southern arts and culture across a variety of formats including literature, music, film, art and drama. The Oxford American will focus on community-oriented programming developed through partnerships with local organizations and institutions.
The Oxford American will also outfit this space with recording (audio and video) equipment that will allow all of the programming to be live-streamed over the organizations website as well as recorded for podcasts, videos and other presentations. New and unique broadcasts also will be developed through The OA's existing partnerships with NPR and PBS. As a result, the programming will be viewed and appreciated by people all over the world.
ArtPlace is a new national collaboration of 11 major national and regional foundations, six of the nation's largest banks, and eight federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S. To date, ArtPlace has raised almost $50 million to work alongside federal and local governments to transform communities with strategic investments in the arts.
"Across the country, cities and towns are using the arts to help shape their social, physical, and economic characters," said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. "The arts are a part of everyday life, and I am thrilled to see yet another example of an arts organization working with city, state, and federal offices to help strengthen and revitalize their communities through the arts. It is wonderful that ArtPlace and its funders have recognized this work and invested in it so generously."
The neighborhood where the Oxford American's offices are located has been making a considerable effort to become the artistic district of Arkansas. By serving as a cultural hub for the city, Oxford American will be generating attention to one of the lesser-known communities in the South and will serve as a platform for the voices of the numerous under-served artists in the region.
"We are honored and humbled to receive this ArtPlace grant, which will enable us to create a unique and sustainable cultural landmark on Main Street in Little Rock," said Warwick Sabin, Publisher of The Oxford American. "When we moved into our new location a few months ago, our goal was to transform these historic buildings into a dynamic space that would reflect the content and spirit of The Oxford American as it contributes vitality and opportunity to the greater community. With the resources and national recognition conferred by ArtPlace, we will be able to do just that. By creating a cultural destination, we hope to propel the cultural and economic development of our community and elevate its standing as a creative place."
ArtPlace received almost 2200 letters of inquiry from organizations seeking a portion of the $15.4 million available for grants in this cycle. Inquiries came from 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands. The 47 projects selected each take a unique and locally-focused approach to creative placemaking, from the creation of a Jazz and Heritage Center in New Orleans' historic Trem neighborhood to generate vibrancy and economic growth for the local community to ARTSIPELAGO, a comprehensive revitalization strategy that combines a number of unconnected arts and cultural initiatives in Eastport, Maine for greater effect.
"These projects all exemplify the best in creative placemaking," explained ArtPlace's Carol Coletta. "They demonstrates a deep understanding of how smart investments in art, design and culture as part of a larger portfolio of revitalization strategies can change the trajectory of communities and increase economic opportunities for people."
In September, ArtPlace will release a new set of metrics to measure changes over time in the people, activity and real estate value in the communities where ArtPlace has invested with its grants.
Oxford will soon transform its new buildings in the SOMA district into a home for diverse arts programming, after receiving a significant grant from ArtPlace.
The space will include a restaurant that will celebrate Southern culinary culture. Accompanying the food will be nightly cultural programming that will feature the best of Southern arts and culture across a variety of formats including literature, music, film, art and drama. The Oxford American will focus on community-oriented programming developed through partnerships with local organizations and institutions.
The Oxford American will also outfit this space with recording (audio and video) equipment that will allow all of the programming to be live-streamed over the organizations website as well as recorded for podcasts, videos and other presentations. New and unique broadcasts also will be developed through The OA's existing partnerships with NPR and PBS. As a result, the programming will be viewed and appreciated by people all over the world.
ArtPlace is a new national collaboration of 11 major national and regional foundations, six of the nation's largest banks, and eight federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S. To date, ArtPlace has raised almost $50 million to work alongside federal and local governments to transform communities with strategic investments in the arts.
"Across the country, cities and towns are using the arts to help shape their social, physical, and economic characters," said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. "The arts are a part of everyday life, and I am thrilled to see yet another example of an arts organization working with city, state, and federal offices to help strengthen and revitalize their communities through the arts. It is wonderful that ArtPlace and its funders have recognized this work and invested in it so generously."
The neighborhood where the Oxford American's offices are located has been making a considerable effort to become the artistic district of Arkansas. By serving as a cultural hub for the city, Oxford American will be generating attention to one of the lesser-known communities in the South and will serve as a platform for the voices of the numerous under-served artists in the region.
"We are honored and humbled to receive this ArtPlace grant, which will enable us to create a unique and sustainable cultural landmark on Main Street in Little Rock," said Warwick Sabin, Publisher of The Oxford American. "When we moved into our new location a few months ago, our goal was to transform these historic buildings into a dynamic space that would reflect the content and spirit of The Oxford American as it contributes vitality and opportunity to the greater community. With the resources and national recognition conferred by ArtPlace, we will be able to do just that. By creating a cultural destination, we hope to propel the cultural and economic development of our community and elevate its standing as a creative place."
ArtPlace received almost 2200 letters of inquiry from organizations seeking a portion of the $15.4 million available for grants in this cycle. Inquiries came from 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands. The 47 projects selected each take a unique and locally-focused approach to creative placemaking, from the creation of a Jazz and Heritage Center in New Orleans' historic Trem neighborhood to generate vibrancy and economic growth for the local community to ARTSIPELAGO, a comprehensive revitalization strategy that combines a number of unconnected arts and cultural initiatives in Eastport, Maine for greater effect.
"These projects all exemplify the best in creative placemaking," explained ArtPlace's Carol Coletta. "They demonstrates a deep understanding of how smart investments in art, design and culture as part of a larger portfolio of revitalization strategies can change the trajectory of communities and increase economic opportunities for people."
In September, ArtPlace will release a new set of metrics to measure changes over time in the people, activity and real estate value in the communities where ArtPlace has invested with its grants.
