New grant fights substance abuse with local art

• And a recent UCLA study dubbed Marion County a hot spot for fatal overdoses among adolescents in 2022, joining 18 other counties nationwide with at least 20 youth overdose deaths and rates eclipsing the national average.

Driving the news: Indy Arts Council is offering new Art for Awareness grants between $5,000 and $65,000 for projects that use arts-based activities to prevent or create awareness of substance use disorder or addiction in Marion County.

• Funding for the program comes from the city of Indianapolis and national opioid settlement money.
• The projects require collaboration between artists and subject matter experts.
• Applications are due May 3, and awardees will be notified in June.

What they're saying: "It's about utilizing art to help folks understand a complex issue, and a stigmatized issue at that," Nikki Kirk, director of community impact and strategic investment for Indy Arts Council, told Axios. "That's the true intention of this work … to challenge perceptions and really understand what we are all kind of collectively experiencing."