South End will give out money to help keep the neighborhood interesting

They call it “placemaking,” but you might think of it as just keeping the odd charm of South End. It’s something worth working on at a time when a lot of people who live there are concerned that new development is pushing out the area’s distinctive flavor.

“It keeps South End interesting,” said Tobe Holmes, director of Historic South End. “This is an experiment in an urban laboratory.”

The idea is for people to create temporary exhibits like the well-known “Before I Die” chalkboard, or something like an urban garden or pocket park. Or people could create events in a lesser known area like a yoga class, pop-up shop or outdoor dance party.

Grants will be available up to $1,000.

The program is an extension of something Historic South End has done for the past few years. Half a decade ago, South End was a much different place back then (read: not that vibrant). Historic South End put together a microgrant pool for public events that engaged the community. This helped jumpstart South End HopsFest, Southern Wine Fest and the cornhole tournament at Triple C.

The new grant program is a little broader in that it allows people to purchase physical materials and create something.

The grant program is also inspired by similar awards from the Knight Foundation. You might recall the Neighborhood Living Room series funded by the Knight Foundation. Varian Shrum organized the Living Room, and she’s part of Historic South End’s organization of this program, too.

The application is pretty straightforward. Six questions: What’s your idea? How does it make South End better? How long will it last? What’s the budget? Where’s it  going to be? What’s your inspiration?

Fill out an application or find out more about the technical details of the grants here.