Auburn’s Schweinfurth Art Center to use $10K grant for Quilters of Color initiative

AUBURN, N.Y. — Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn recently announced that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has approved it for a Challenge America award of $10,000.

The grant funding will support the art center’s Quilters of Color initiative. The Schweinfurth’s Quilters of Color initiative includes several workshops, classes, and an exhibition opportunity for a quilter of color, per the announcement. All events will occur in 2023.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide,” Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA, said. “Projects such as this one with the Schweinfurth Art Center strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.” 

It’s the first time that Schweinfurth Art Center has been approved for an NEA grant. The NEA considered nearly 450 eligible applications for Challenge America grants and will award grants totaling $2.62 million to 262 organizations nationally, as part of its first round of fiscal year 2023 grants. 

“The Schweinfurth Art Center is known for its quilting and fiber arts programs. This NEA funding will help us extend more opportunities to quilters of color and recognizes the important contribution of African American quilters and their traditions in contemporary quilting,” Donna Lamb, executive director of the Schweinfurth Art Center, said. “We will be including several artists of color on the faculty for our fiber arts programs and providing exhibition opportunities.”