FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 1, 2014 Media Contact: Nadia Osman, (478) 301-2021 or nadia@collegehillmacon.com College Hill Alliance Awarded $125,000 ArtPlace America Grant to Fund Central Georgia’s First-Ever Maker Festival Macon, GA – The College Hill Alliance will host Central Georgia’s first maker festival with $125,000 in support from ArtPlace America. The Alliance is one of 55 applicants to be awarded funding from the highly competitive ArtPlace America grant program in 2014. The event aims to position Macon regionally as a leader in creative placemaking and innovation. “The opportunity for us to build on the emerging Maker Movement by creating an event that locally celebrates and supports the very powerful transformative potential of the arts within a community is something we are very excited to share,” said Heather Pendergast, executive director of the College Hill Alliance. “ArtPlace has generously given us a grant to create a community-driven, but regionally impactful, maker festival right here in Macon.” The College Hill Alliance’s original grant request was for $58,500, but ArtPlace more than doubled the amount because of the intensive planning needed and regional appeal of the event. According to an October 2013 USA Today article on new entrepreneurship, the Maker Movement represents 57 percent of the American population 18 and up who employ their creative skills. Examples of makers range from high-tech engineers to DIY enthusiasts. Last year, the College Hill Alliance issued a call for Macon Makers in an effort to survey the existing movement and gauge local interest. After receiving feedback from over 150 local makers on the website MaconMaker.com, the Alliance began hosting networking events and small maker markets to promote their services, talents and products. The Alliance applied for the grant in order to further enhance maker efforts in Central Georgia. Maker festivals are designed to showcase and celebrate the innovation of creativity. They are often described as an event that combines the discovery of the science fair with the craftsmanship of the county fair to spark creative risk-taking. The historic College Hill Corridor area will host a two-day long maker festival in 2015. Makers from across the country will be invited to showcase their work to the community and connect with one another. These makers will setup on-site and demonstrate the latest in both technology- and craft-based innovation. Additional aspects of the event will include entrepreneurial speakers, hands-on activities for children and adults, maker entertainment and food vendors.
The College Hill Alliance hosted a press conference regarding the local Maker Movement at the Macon Beer Company, on July 1, to announce maker festival details and unveil the “Macon Made” seal. The locally-owned and operated beer brewing company is an example of a successful business created by local makers. The maker festival will take place in April 2015 in Tattnall Square Park, a premiere greenspace in the College Hill Corridor. The Alliance is working with local and national consultants to plan the event and apply to be considered an official “Maker Faire.” The designation would attract a wider range of makers and attendees as well as equip the Alliance with resources from previously conducted Faires. A call for makers, food vendors, and volunteers will be opened in the coming months. The new “Macon Made” seal is available for use by artisans, businesses and industry to promote local products. The seal, which was designed by local Macon Maker Jason Frost, can be customized to fit the digital or physical product of a company. Requests to use the seal should be sent to maconmade@gmail.com. “Makers are everywhere in Macon and our region. The maker festival and 'Macon Made' will lift up all these talented people and provide support to their enterprises so we can build a 21st century economy of 21st century workers,” said Beverly Blake, Macon program director for Knight Foundation, a funder of ArtPlace. “Investing in and supporting the arts have a profound impact on the social, physical, and economic futures of communities,” said ArtPlace Executive Director Jamie L. Bennett. “Projects like these demonstrate how imaginative and committed people are when it comes to enhancing their communities with creative interventions and thoughtful practices.” About the College Hill Alliance: Initially established with a grant to Mercer University from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in 2009, the College Hill Alliance assists the community in creating positive change to the physical, social and economic fabric of the College Hill Corridor, a two-square mile area between Mercer’s campus and Macon, Georgia’s downtown business district. For more information, contact Nadia Osman at the College Hill Alliance: 478.301.2021 / nadia@collegehillmacon.com. Visit collegehillmacon.com. About ArtPlace America: ArtPlace America (ArtPlace) advances the field of creative placemaking, in which art and culture plays an explicit and central role in shaping communities’ social, physical, and economic futures. To date, ArtPlace has awarded $56.8 million through 189 grants to projects serving 122 communities across 42 states and the District of Columbia. ArtPlace is a collaboration among the Barr Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The William Penn Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Surdna Foundation, and two anonymous donors. ArtPlace seeks advice and counsel from its close working relationships with the following federal agencies: the National Endowment for the Arts, the US Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, and Transportation, along
with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council. ArtPlace has additional partnership from six major financial institutions: Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife and Morgan Stanley. The deadline for submission for a 2015 grant application will be announced later this year. For more information or to join ArtPlace’s mailing list, visit www.artplaceamerica.org. For additional information about ArtPlace contact: Bow Bridge Communications, LLC, New York City, Libby Mark, Managing Principal, 917.968.5567 / info@bow-bridge.com. ###