The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has awarded a $35,000 grant to Artfarms Buffalo and the Matt Urban Center. The NEA Art Works grant will help kick-start the construction of artistic sculptures on vacant land in the Broadway-Fillmore and other East Side Buffalo neighborhoods.
The aim of the project is to compliment existing urban farm initiatives on the East Side with the creation of sculptures supporting the agricultural activity. Artfarms is focused on developing a creative re-purposing that utilizes vacant land to help spur redevelopment with this simple concept: Art + Agriculture = Activity.
“In a place with limited economic, social and cultural activity, Artfarms simply weaves together the ongoing initiatives in the East Side to support a common vision for its landscape,” said David Lage’, project director. “By building a cultural place with the efforts of those already engaged with the neighborhood, we believe Artfarms will transform the vacant land into the area’s most defining asset.”
Artfarms invites urban farmers, artists and community organizations to participate in this collaborative effort to help the East Side toward creative revitalization—one vacant parcel at a time.
For more information about the project, visit www.artfarms.org.
