Home
Focus Areas
About Us
"A great deal of city center space lies vacant, but it needn't be that way."
That's the opinion of Sally Reaper, co-director of Look Again, Gray's School of Art's creative unit, in an op-ed in the Aberdeen Press and Journal.
With that in mind, Look Again and Culture Aberdeen have teamed up to transform empty shop units in Aberdeen's city center into temporary retail spaces, art installations, and pop-up shops, all supported by short-term leases.
"One of the biggest challenges small businesses face are start-up rates," Reaper writes.
"Rents are often too high, and the legalities too cumbersome.
If we are to move forward from this problem, locally or nationally, there has to be a change to the rateable value.
Only by investing in our creative communities and by developing sustainable, affordable city center living and workspaces can we provide small businesses and creatives with the opportunity to be present in our city centers."
To that end, Look Again and Culture Aberdeen are working with local creatives, freelance artists, and community groups to "recode the city center, so that community groups have a bigger role, and so that we can bring the area's soul back," Reaper said.
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
If you're in Nashville and want to help fight climate change, there's a program you can sign up for for free. The Climate Innovation Accelerator is a 10-week program from Vanderbilt University's...more
"Education, a fundamental right, is a powerful catalyst for development worldwide." That's what Kenyan social entrepreneur Mumbe Mwangangi has to say about her new startup, Nyansapo AI, which...more
"The future of our nation hinges upon its young,educated, and socially conscious demographic," State Bank of India CEOjay Prakash says in a press release. Prakash is referring to the roughly 1...more
The director of the Flanders Architecture Institute in Belgium has been named an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Guardian reports. Sofie De Caigny, who took over...more
If you're an expert in geographic information system (GIS) technology, you may want to consider attending the annual Esri User Conference in San Diego next month. The event, which runs from July...more
"I was working in corporate America for one of the world's largest retail companies, and it was challenging and wonderful in many ways. But I was finding my truest fulfillment on Saturday...more
Foundation: Whitefish Community Foundation
"Through our collective efforts, we're not just providing financial support, but we're investing in Montana's vitality and resilience." That from Mike Smith, president of Glacier Bank, which...more
If you're looking for a way to boost your community's sense of place, researchers at Gustavson University in Sweden have just the thing. They've developed a set of five principles that community...more
Seri Roth is an entrepreneur "with a passion for empowering communities and fostering positive change," according to her website. She's just launched Boston Queers, an online directory and...more
The new president of the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tenn., says he'll bring a "keen appreciation for the arts and Appalachian history" to the job, the Knoxville News Sentinel...more
Community Building News from...
Wells Fargo Foundation
New Hampshire Charitable Foundation
Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas
Dallas Foundation
Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation
Greater Washington Community Foundation
Rhode Island Foundation
Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
California Community Foundation
Arizona Community Foundation
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Calgary Social Enterprise Offers High-Tech Services by People with Autism
Meticulon, a project of Autism Calgary Association in partnership with the federal government and the Sinneave Family Foundation, operates as a social enterprise that renders high-tech services provided by people with autism, leveraging their natural abilities at requiring attention to detail, repetition, and sequencing.
