Girls Write Nashville has been approved for a $15,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support its programming. Girls Write Nashville is among 1,125 recipients across America totaling more than $26.6 million that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2022 funding.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts and cultural organizations throughout the nation with these grants, including Girls Write Nashville, providing opportunities for all of us to live artful lives,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, Ph.D. “The arts contribute to our individual well-being, the well-being of our communities, and to our local economies. The arts are also crucial to helping us make sense of our circumstances from different perspectives as we emerge from the pandemic and plan for a shared new normal informed by our examined experience.”
"I am so proud and grateful for this opportunity and milestone for Girls Write Nashville. As executive director and co-founder, I've had the privilege of working as part of this community-led organization as it has grown over the past six years since our founding from a grassroots start-up into a now federally-funded organization,” said co-founder and director Jen Starsinic. “As new grantees, this support from the National Endowment for the Arts will be a crucial pillar of stability for our organization as we work every day to create community, creative participation, and opportunity for social-emotional growth for students in Title I schools.
“Moments like this, I always reflect on the students in the very first year of our program who responded to participation in a ‘one-time community arts project’ by saying, ‘see you next year,’” she added. “This new chapter is a direct reflection of the strength of the community they have created with each other, and I am so in awe of them and all the members of our Girls Write Nashville community." For more information on other projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
Girls Write Nashville is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that empowers expression through songwriting, production, mentorship, and creative community building for teen artists in Nashville, Tennessee. In GWN programs, participants learn to write and record original music in a supportive community of peers led by a trauma-informed teaching artist over the course of a six-month season.
Started in 2016 as a community arts project on a $2,800 Metro Arts THRIVE grant, it has since grown into a vibrant small nonprofit start-up serving over 200 students and has been featured on NBC’s Today Show, USA Today, The Tennessean, The Nashville Scene, and American Songwriter Magazine, amongst others. It is proud to be one of the only music education organizations nationwide designed from the ground up to ensure the values of equity and empowerment in its program structure and curriculum.
By focusing on community-building, authenticity, and the vulnerability of creative risk-taking, Girls Write Nashville participants not only receive world-class music and songwriting education, but they find their voice: building confidence, leadership, self-advocacy, and social-emotional skills needed to truly thrive as human beings in any arena.
“So much of the value of Girls Write Nashville is in learning leadership skills: becoming artistically resilient, speaking authentically, advocating for your voice, and overcoming self-doubt and fear of rejection,” says Starsinic. “Being in this program brought so much excitement to my day,” commented one young participant. “I really looked forward to this safe space where I could be creative and have a good time. I learned more about music and how much effort it really takes. I really appreciate music more now. I have had the opportunity to express my thoughts and feelings in my melodies and verses. Girls Write Nashville is the best program yet! Thank you to all the loving and amazing people involved.”
Anyone interested in getting involved with the program is invited to email info@girlswritenashville.org or visit girlswritenashville.org for more information.
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