Funding artists, transforming communities

The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) supports the arts across all disciplines, locally and nationally. NEFA believes that public art can transform, inspire, disrupt, and reimagine a community, and that art is a powerful tool for advancing equity.

The Creative City Boston grant puts funds directly in the hands of artists to create in and for their communities. Hairpin created a vibrant awareness campaign to spread the word about this amazing program, focusing on Boston’s underserved communities. We partnered with NEFA to launch the first Creative City pilot and accompanying city-wide campaign, then flexed our journalistic muscles to highlight its effect on the grantee artists and their communities.

Client
New England Foundation for the Arts
Services
Campaign Design
Video
Presentation Design + Coaching
Print Design
Social Media

Documenting the impact

Central to this campaign were seven dynamic, Hairpin-produced short documentaries that tell the story of each artist, their project, and their collaboration with community partners. We also provided strategic and creative support for launching the videos.

To help NEFA and their grantees spread the program’s success stories with others in the field, Hairpin designed robust, shareable tools, including social media posts for grantees and a proof-of-concept report.

The Creative City pilot exceeded expectations. 46 artists were funded and hundreds of community events were launched. Installations and performances happened across neighborhoods—in parks and playgrounds, at community centers and places of worship, and on sidewalks and stages. More voices were added to the ever-changing narrative of our city, and NEFA was able to demonstrate one of their core, guiding beliefs—if you fund artists directly, everyone benefits.