Exploring the Intersection of Art, Faith and the Human experience


CRAVE 101: fostering local art one dinner at a time

-By Joshua Williams

 

Welcome to CRAVE (CREATING RESOURCES FOR ARTISTIC VISION AND ENGAGEMENT)! If you’re reading this, you might be wondering, what is Crave? For those of you who are new to the project, CRAVE can best be summarized as “a micro-granting dinner that supports creative projects inspired by the arts, to engage and benefit our local community.” Every few months we gather at the Lab at Convergence or other art spaces in the area such as Torpedo to share a meal and feature new local art endeavors that we believe deserve our support as a community.

convergence1_1

While many proposals are submitted each session (for CRAVE 3 there were eleven submissions) there can only be one grant recipient, and that is where you come in. Each ticket sold provides dinner, as well as a vote for one of the four finalists to receive the grant. The size of the grant is completely reliant on the generous donations of the attendees, so the greater the turnout, the more we will be able to support these aspiring artists. In the past we have raised $2,000 dollars to support these budding art projects, thanks to our partners at the Torpedo Factory and attendees.

Convergence1_5

So what does a CRAVE winning project look like? Well here is a snapshot of our two previous winners.

convergence1_2

Chris Miles was chosen as the recipient of our first CRAVE grant. Chris is currently involved with the project that he proposed for CRAVE, the Culinary Starter Lessons. Every Wednesday evening at the Lab at Convergence Chris teaches aspiring chefs the basics of making art through food. Chris provided the food at Fest Too this past summer, and I can personally vouch for his skills (by far the best vegan chili and macaroni and cheese that I’ve ever had. My mouth is watering just thinking about that lunch.)

10352150_10152538258693210_2134888161808230207_n-600x620-1

image001-620x487

The recipient of the second CRAVE grant was DC musician Ryan Walker for his music festival Magnificent Intentions. The festival featured over twenty local acts over three days at Iota club and café in Arlington Virginia in late October of last year. The DC Music scene is surging with life and Convergence was happy to see funds go to support artists in such an important and growing field.

10687144_502953193174446_5121499552529780405_n

This time around we have four exciting projects in the running, featuring a wide range of proposals. From theatre to herb gardens, we are amazed by the charisma and creativity of our upcoming artists. Check back every day this week for updates featuring each of our candidates.

convergence1_3

As we continue to partner with the community to foster art and growth we look forward to seeing what our artists will be capable of achieving. We hope to see you at the event, and even if you can’t make it out to enjoy a meal and conversation with us, we appreciate any donations that could directly benefit the artists. Ticket purchases and donations can be made on our event page, and be sure to invite your friends!

[rev_slider CRAVE]

 

 




Comments are closed.

Back to Top ↑