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Urbana awards $90,000 in arts grants to 25 local projects
Summary
Urbana’s Arts and Culture program awarded $90,000 in 2026 grants across 25 projects after nearly 80 applications; awards include community festivals, school programs and gallery shows, with staff listing tier 1 and tier 2 recipients and arts-in-the-schools winners.
The Urbana Arts and Culture program awarded $90,000 in grants for 2026 to 25 arts projects across Urbana, interim coordinator Rachel Storm reported July 14, following a competitive jury process that reviewed nearly 80 applications.
"We awarded $90,000 to arts organizations, artists and festival presenters for creative projects," Storm told the commission, summarizing tier 1, tier 2 and arts-in-the-schools recipients. Tier 1 awards included Anna Sapoiznikov (Good Housekeep, $3,000), Bradley Olsen (Cornstalk, $3,000), Carly Upchurch (Leal Park mural, $3,499) and Crystal Hartman (The New Cohen Exhibition Workshop, $3,000). Other tier 1 winners included community-focused public art, dance, and cross-disciplinary projects.
Tier 2 recipients, typically larger events and multi-day projects, included A. Rinca Alcalde’s Word is a Seed (a multilingual poetry festival, $4,999), a content-creation lab offering youth audio storytelling training, Midwest Yiddish Fest ($4,999) and a homegrown music celebration ($4,999). Arts-in-the-schools awards included Julian Lynch/Opera for the Young (Rusalka adaptation in Urbana schools, $2,500) and Les Coutts at Dr. Williams Elementary ($1,600).
Storm said the program completed tiered juries and that awarded projects span a range of forms and audiences, from family and student programming to festivals and experimental sound and performance. She thanked commissioners who served as jurors and encouraged continued outreach to recruit applicants for future cycles.
The awards are funded through the Urbana Arts and Culture grant program; Storm said staff will circulate the full list of awardees included in the commission packet and follow up with recipients on next steps and reporting requirements.
