HOUSTON - Mayor Sylvester Turner is calling for Houston’s best ideas to endorse for the national Our Town grant program.

The National Endowment for the Arts’ Our Town grant is interested in projects that bring arts and culture to impact community priorities such as public safety, health, blight and vacancy, environment, job creation, equity, local business development, civic participation, and/or community cohesion. Successful projects will improve the livability of communities, create opportunities for all and empower residents.

“I am very enthusiastic about having artists bring their best ideas to community projects and the NEA Our Town grant is a tremendous opportunity,” said Mayor Turner. “There is so much great talent in Houston and by working together across sectors to solve problems and expand opportunity, we will keep our city moving forward.”

The Our Town grant program supports creative placemaking projects that help to transform communities into lively, beautiful, and resilient places with the arts at their core. Our Town requires partnerships between arts organizations and government, other nonprofit organizations, and private entities to achieve livability goals for communities. This grant provides an opportunity to embrace the expanding role culture plays in our community.

The National Endowment for the Arts limits the number of Our Town grant applicants per city and requires a letter of endorsement from the Mayor. Applications that respond to the City’s Arts and Cultural Plan will be most competitive for an endorsement.

To be considered for endorsement, applicants should submit their concepts with confirmed artists and partners no later than July 17, 2017 to Cultural.Affairs@houstontx.gov. Applicants should consult the Our Town grant program website, which includes guidance and resources including case studies for developing successful projects: https://www.arts.gov/grants-organizations/our-town/introduction.

Successful applicants will receive endorsement notification in early August for a final submission to the National Endowment for the Arts on September 11, 2017.

For more about the Arts and Cultural Plan visit: http://www.houstontx.gov/culturalaffairs/artsandculturalplan.html.