Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga has been awarded a $124,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation. The grant from the Troy, Michigan based foundation will fund Allied Arts’ Capacity Building, Sustainability and Technical Assistance Program. This program will include an in-depth examination of the operations of Allied Arts and their 15 funded cultural partners and provide organizational support.

The Kresge Foundation offered one-time Arts and Culture Capacity Building grants in October. The grant program was designed to assist leaders and managers within arts communities across the country to address the current economic challenges and to craft creative solutions to build even more resilient and vital arts organizations.

Through the opportunity presented by this grant, Allied Arts will greatly expand current efforts to provide assistance to sustain Chattanooga’s growing and vibrant arts community.

“We are fortunate to receive this Kresge grant,” said Dan Bowers, president of Allied Arts. “This grant is very fortuitous in that it will allow us to accomplish tasks laid out in our strategic plan at a much more accelerated pace and in a fashion that will be deeper and have greater impact than what we had originally deemed possible. Allied Arts, our cultural partners and the Chattanooga arts community will be stronger because of this work.”

WolfBrown, a Massachusetts-based consulting firm that specializes in working with arts organizations, has been hired to conduct in-depth assessments and diagnostic analysis of Allied Arts and their cultural partners. WolfBrown will also incorporate analysis of resource sharing opportunities into its assessment. These findings will then drive strategic technical assistance for both Allied Arts and for the individual organizations. “We are looking forward to our association with Allied Arts and the Chattanooga arts community,” said Tom Wolf, WolfBrown principal partner and lead consultant for the grant program.

The Capacity Building, Sustainability and Technical Assistance Program will be completed in 24 months. Mr. Bowers said, “We strongly believe that this opportunity will enhance both Allied Arts and our cultural partners’ effectiveness in the sustainable delivery of the arts to our community. Only by strengthening our organizations will we be able to fully implement our mission and belief that the arts are for all.”