Marion Voices Folklife + Oral History -- founded in 2017, & amplifying folk & cultural arts across Marion County, Ohio, to build more just & more abundant futures for all -- is growing more than ever before in 2017! In our first five years of programming, we've relied almost entirely on program-specific grant funding to keep our lights on. As we enter our sixth year -- with more expanded programming than ever before -- we're trying something new: building a robust, grassroots annual campaign to help grow a flexible general operations fund to cover both basic needs, emergencies, & opportunities for flexible innovation & collaboration alike.
Marion Voices' reach is growing more than ever before in FY2023 -- but our budget, at present, isn't keeping up with the scale of our expanded programming. And that's where you can come in!
Here's just a taste of what your donation will help make possible in 2023 ...
We're so thrilled to be expanding our flagship Marion Voices in the Schools Folk & Cultural Arts Residency Program -- bringing dozens of Marion County community folk & cultural artists into K-12 classrooms across the county, while training them in teaching arts -- to three new Marion County School districts in 2023: serving over 900 K-12 students, & providing young people with a chance to appreciate the diverse cultural traditions of their own home cultural communities, while learning across difference.
Likewise, Marion Black Joy Summerfest -- our beloved annual festival, capping off the Juneteenth season, at Dr. MLK Park on the West Side -- is coming back for its third year in 2023; & we need funding to make the festival bigger & better than ever!
We're also growing new programming, like our Preservation Justice Series: a series of workshops & hands-on co-curation cycles designed to provide free popular education about historic preservation tools & incentives, to help make preservation more accessible to a wider swathe of people; & our Marion Voices Pilot Folk & Cultural Arts Apprenticeship: a paid opportunity for apprentice cultural artists to learn from a master cultural artist over months of focused study & conversation.
Our popular Marion Voices Summer Institute in Cultural Documentation -- a workshop series which, in Summer 2020, drew attendees not only from Marion, but all over the world -- also returns for Summer 2023: bringing with it all-new opportunities for our community, far & wide, to skill-up in the types of cultural documentation, community folk arts organizing, & justice dreaming that Marion Voices does best!
Your donations not only help support critical gaps & needs in our rapidly-growing slate of community programs, but they literally keep the lights on: supporting critical behind-the-scenes needs & providing us the flexibility & cushion necessary to seek new grants & innovate new programs, collaborations, & opportunities.
It's an honor to continue to serve Marion County as we enter our sixth year of community folk arts programming; & we're grateful for your continued support as we grow!
In solidarity,
Jess Lamar Reece Holler
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Marion Voices Folklife + Oral History
Marion County, Ohio