The Ark receives $10,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support Ann Arbor Folk Festival

The Ark has been approved for a $10,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support the Ann Arbor Folk Festival. The Ann Arbor Folk Festival just celebrated its 44^th year last weekend, and is still available virtually through Sunday, February 7^th (Find more information about the 44^th Ann Arbor Folk Festival here theark.org/folk-festival). The 45^th Ann Arbor Folk Festival is scheduled to take place on January 28^–29, 2022.

For over 55 years The Ark has been enriching the human spirit through the presentation, preservation and encouragement of folk, roots and ethnic music and related arts.  The Ark presents the Ann Arbor Folk Festival annually at the end of January in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Traditionally presented in the historic Hill Auditorium on the University of Michigan campus, the pandemic shifted this year’s event to a virtual presentation that reached audiences from 22 countries around the globe. The Ann Arbor Folk Festival offers two to three nights of the finest folk, roots and ethnic music with 12-25 artists that range from emerging acts to established legends.

“A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts is an important benchmark for the Ann Arbor Folk Festival,” said The Ark’s board chair Susan McClanahan, “The festival is an international leader in both preserving folk music traditions and supporting the next generation of artists who will carry those traditions forward.”

The Ark and the Ann Arbor Folk Festival is among 1,073 projects across America totaling nearly $25 million that were selected during this first round of fiscal year 2021 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects funding category.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support this project from The Ark,” said Arts Endowment Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “The Ark is among the arts organizations across the country that have demonstrated creativity, excellence, and resilience during this very challenging year.”

For more information on projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.