Kentuck Art Center Gets $10,000 Grant to Distribute Art Supplies to Needy Kids

The Kentuck Arts Center in Northport will be able to regularly distribute art supplies to children in need thanks in part to a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

In a Tuesday press release, the Arts Center announced that the NEA has selected 168 projects across the country to fund through its Challenge America awards, including Kentuck's Boxes of Joy program.

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Boxes of Joy, which began last year, works with the Northport Housing Authority to deliver art supplies to children living in public housing projects on a recurring basis, like a free subscription model.

The program served 46 children under the age of 12 who were living in the West Circle Community in Northport in 2021.

With the new funding from the NEA, Boxes of Joy will expand into two more public housing communities this year and provide monthly craft kits to around 100 children. Kentuck will also begin offering in-person activities led by professional artists at the West Circle Community and provide a mentorship program to five high school seniors living in Housing Authority homes.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects like this one from Kentuck Art Center that help support the community’s creative economy,” said NEA Acting Chair Ann Eilers. “Kentuck Art Center in Northport, Alabama is among the organizations nationwide that are using the arts as a source of strength, a path to well-being, and providing access and opportunity for people to connect and find joy through the arts.”