Curated Storefront wins $100,000 grant for Lock 3 sculpture by Chakaia Booker
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Akron's Curated Storefront has been awarded a $100,000 grant from VIA Art Fund of New York for a commission by American sculptor Chakaia Booker to be installed in Lock 3 Park as part of its redevelopment project.
"I don't believe there's any other Akron organizations that have had a grant from VIA Art. They're pretty selective," said Rick Rogers, executive director of Curated Storefront, a small nonprofit that transforms downtown Akron spaces with art installations. "I think that as long as we build a strong relationship, we hope to have them as a regular funder."
Curated Storefront is the curatorial assistant for the art component of Lock 3 Park's nearly $10 million redevelopment, working for project coordinator Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition to conduct the artist search process, create artist contracts and raise funds for the park's new public art.
More: Major construction on reshaping Akron's Lock 3 about to begin; concerts, events relocated
To date, Curated Storefront has raised $600,000 in commitments toward a $1 million funding goal for Lock 3 artworks.
Booker, based in New York, also has a production studio in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She is known for abstract sculptures created from recycled tires and stainless steel that explore environmentalism, race, gender and industrial decline.
Her works have previously been shown by Curated Storefront at Quaker Square in Akron for the exhibition FRONT 2022 as well as by the Akron Art Museum.
VIA Art Fund, which stands for Visionary Initiatives in Art, is a national funder of contemporary visual art projects. Its Curated Storefront grant was amid $775,000 awarded in artistic production grants in 2023 to a total of 12 U.S. grantees, whose projects will be based everywhere from New York and Los Angeles to London and Venice.
Akron's Lock 3 Park is expected to reopen in the fall. Curated Storefront's Rogers said new art installations are expected to continue to be added to the park through the end of 2025.
Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Curated Storefront awarded $100,000 from NY art fund for Lock 3 sculpture
