2025 Small Grants Awards

March 28, 2025

CHArt awarded $8,000 in funds from in small grants ranging from $2,000 to $4,000. We received 13 submissions from faculty or teams from CoA+A, CHESS, the College of Education, and Atkins Library. The review committee recognized projects that had research merit and significant community impact, engaged interdisciplinary teams, aligned with CHArt’s priority research areas, and had potential to grow within CHArt.

For Spring 2025, the CHArt Small Grant recipient teams and their projects are:

  • The North Carolina African American Cemeteries Network: Dr. Sara Juengst (Anthropology) leads a team of faculty, students, and community partners focused on the recognition and preservation of African American history and burial sites, emphasizing their significance to both local and national heritage. ​As a resource hub and professional network, NCAACN provide support and guidance to individuals and organizations committed to the this work and aims to bridge knowledge gaps and improve access to important preservation resources.
  • Smithville Stories: Mira Frisch (Music) leads the Charlotte Strings Collective, a group of musicians committed to celebrating the music of Black composers through performance and education. CHArt funds will support rehearsals and performances of new string works inspired by Smithville, a Cornelius neighborhood that is the largest intact historically Black community in Mecklenburg County. Charlotte Strings Collective is working with the poet Maurice Norman and the community to tell Smithville’s stories.
  • Bertha Maxwell-Roddey Legacies of Leadership: Debra Smith (African Studies), Sonja Ramsey (Women and Gender Studies), Joy Davis (Communication Studies), and Katie Howell (University Archives) are leading this project investigating the dimensions of women’s leadership Components include an April 2025 academic conference focused on Maxwell-Roddey’s contributions and legacies as well as an oral history project interviewing women leaders at Charlotte to create a publicly accessible and expandable collection and website housed in Atkins Library.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

October 1, 2024

The Small Grant Program aims to promote engagement with heritage and communities through seed grants for collaborative faculty projects. These grants are envisioned as piloting a new idea or supplementing a current project that could be enhanced with additional funding. Activities might include, but are not limited to, research expenses, travel for research or dissemination of work, performance related costs, hiring consultants, hiring students, and publicity. Grants may not be used for the purchase of food or alcohol.

  • Application Deadline: Oct 21 @ 5:00 pm
  • Spending Period: January 1 – August 30, 2025
  • Grant Amounts: $1,000 – $4,000
  • Info Session: October 9 | 2:00 to 3:30 – please stop byCHArt (Storrs 155) if you have questions about the grants or want to talk through a potential idea. If you are not free at that time, reach out to Emily Makas at emakas@charlotte.edu or Carlos Cruz at carloscruz@charlotte.edu and we can answer questions by email or set up another time to meet.

Applicant projects should fall within one of the following four priority research areas:

  • Heritage Placemaking through the Arts
  • Elevating Community Stories
  • Social Impact of the Arts
  • Reclaiming Cemeteries

Applicant projects address two or more CHArt priorities:

  • Involve faculty in different departments and/or disciplines and/or engage cross-disciplinary perspectives
  • engage graduate and/or undergraduate students in research
  • engage community partners or publics or have a public-facing compoent
  • have dissemination or impact plans for 2025 (through scholarly output, performance, public engagement, or other)

The Spring 2025 application is now closed. Questions regarding the Small Grant Program can be directed to Emily Makas at emakas@charlotte.edu