ArtsMemphis Community Engagement Fellowship of Memphis, TN, is our 2016 Robert E. Gard award reciepent. The fellows program includes artists, arts managers, neighborhood leaders, and residents, creating projects that use the arts as a vehicle for social change and empowerment in specific, disenfranchised Memphis neighborhoods. Fellows learn to listen to the needs of residents and collaborate on artistic projects that spring from and uplift the neighborhoods where they are based.

Classes, fieldwork, and site visits in Memphis and around the country are the core of the roughly six-month program. Fellows explore such relevant concepts as creative placemaking, reimagining neighborhoods, community impact, sustainable fundraising, and cross-sector partnerships. Fellows also produce arts-based project proposals to create lasting community development and build cultural equity.

The Robert E. Gard Award recognizes and celebrates exemplary work at the intersection of the arts and community life. Linda Steele, Chief Community Engagement Officer with ArtsMemphis, accepted the award.