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JAWS Fest asks Mobile for funding to expand youth arts programming reaching nearly 700 students
Summary
Organizers of JAWS Fest asked the council for city support to sustain and expand JAWS Youth, an education initiative they said will reach nearly 700 Mobile students in 2026, and emphasized the festival's role in cultural tourism and compensating local artists.
Willie Dennish III, co-creator and co-director of the Jazz Art Writers South Festival (JAWS Fest), urged city support for the nonprofit's education work at the Jan. 6 Mobile City Council meeting. Dennish said JAWS Youth will reach "nearly 700 local Mobile Alabama students in 2026" and described partnerships with local schools and the Excelsior band, which he called "a Mobile institution with more than 140 years of cultural influence."
Dennish asked the council to help sustain and grow JAWS Fest so the organization can expand student access, fairly compensate local artists and strengthen Mobile's cultural tourism. Councilman Corey Penn praised the festival from the dais and said he would support the initiative financially.
The transcript records the presentation and council praise; no formal appropriation or resolution for funding appears in the Jan. 6 record.
