Meet Moises Borges
Meet Moises
Based in Cleveland, Ohio for over two decades, Moises Borges is a gifted guitarist and vocalist born in Bahia, Brazil, He grew up experimenting with rhythms such as Bolero, Baião, Xote, Afoxé, Frevo, Forró, especially Samba and Bossa Nova which are basic to his performances. His soothing voice and charm make for a wonderful evening of entertainment for all lovers of Brazilian Jazz. Moises has performed in numerous countries, venues and events, he often performs at area outdoor festivals and Jazz Clubs on a regular basis. Just back in town from a few international tours Moises is preparing to release a new album of original work with renowned international guests such as Ken Peplowski, Diego Figueiredo, Chuchito Valdez, among others. Borges has become a prolific performer in the Northeast Ohio scene in the last decade. In 2023 Moises was nominated as Best Jazz Band for the Cleveland Music Awards; In 2022 he scored the second place at the Cleveland Power of Sport Summit-Sport Song Competition during the All Star Games; In 2020 he was a finalist of the BDOLive Song Festival, a nationwide original music contest scoring the fourth place. He had 3 nominations to the Brazilian International Press Awards in the last decade. Borges is a good storyteller, vivid and funny performer who plays mostly in the Samba and Bossa Nova tradition, interpreting his original songs besides classics by Jobim, Gilberto, Bosco and many others. Far away from his native Brazil, the music of his homeland is very much alive when he is on stage. As a local artist and founder of the ABCAI-Afro Brazilian Cultural Appreciation Initiative in 2018, Moises has made cultural presentations at universities and schools. He has presented photography exhibits, and has appeared on radio and TV shows. Lately he has done a series of Zoom panels through the Karamu House of Residency speaking about “Afro Brazilian Culture”, Capoeira, percussion, culinary, religion (Orishas), and includes a samba dance class. All the online video materials are available on his YouTube channel to serve all audiences for free.
Creative Impact Fund Project: ABCAI Afro Brazilian Cultural Appreciation Initiative
The Afro Brazilian Culture Appreciation Initiative is a series of interactive educational experiences aimed at spreading awareness and excitement about Brazilian culture to students. It envisions that the youth will discover music and dance as an empowering force in their lives, it also seeks to provide an alternative mode of learning, especially for children who may not respond to traditional modes of teaching and learning.
The event will be performed for a group of anywhere in between 150 to 300 students in elementary/secondary schools serving in the Red Lined Cleveland neighborhoods. It will feature 5 components: Live samba music with a 5-piece band demonstration; A workshop on samba dancing.
A Capoeira presentation and workshop (a Brazilian body movement technique with 5 practitioners); An Afro-Brazilian Drumline presentation and workshop; One Keynote Speaker who will speak on Brazilian culture at the event, discussing Brazil’s history, its African roots, current affairs, the arts, customs and more. The students will be requested to do research on Brazil’s history and geography by two weeks prior to our presentation, developing acknowledgement for discussion with the Keynote Speaker on the event’s day.
The 3.5 hour event will also include activities that engage in an interactive, playful manner, giving the students a first hand experience of Brazil’s unique cultural heritage. Attendees will have the opportunity to join event activities, playing instruments, dancing and learning Capoeira techniques. This interactive approach brings Brazil to Cleveland’s youth like never before.
Creative Impact Fund Grantees 2023
About the Creative Impact Fund
The Creative Impact Fund, which was established by the Assembly for the Arts, awarded a total of $6,250 to sixteen (16) artists, art collectives, and informal groups. The fund was designed to provide flexible funding and support for transformative arts projects aimed at redlined communities, developing areas with significant arts activity, and promoting increased walkability. The fund aimed to lay the groundwork for the City of Cleveland’s Rescue & Transformation Plan, which prioritized arts and neighborhood amenities.
Individual artists or art collectives of all expressions, including but not limited to painting, sculpture, photography, film/motion pictures, dance, ballet, theatre, music, comedy/improv, writing/literature, architecture, design, and fashion, were welcome to apply to the Creative Impact Fund. Along with funding, CIF offered professional development, marketing support, and connections to creative, business, and institutional networks. The Creative Impact Fund was funded by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
Let’s Meet The Artists:
Creative Impact administered by Assembly for the Arts and funded by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
Thank You to Our Funders
Assembly held its first Art Ball fundraising gala in May 2023. More than 230 art lovers attended as Assembly honored arts supporter Tony Panzica. Creativity threaded throughout the evening with face painting, Brazilian sambas, Djapo’s dance performance and spoken-word artists. Assembly raised more than $100,000 at the Art Ball to support our work through 37 event sponsors as well as individual contributions.
Assembly for the Arts thanks the following funders for their continuing general operating support for its programs and services:
Executive Ronayne names 2 new members to RTA board
Source: Cleveland.com
Date: July 25, 2023
Abstract:
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne on Tuesday recommended reappointing one member and adding two new members to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority Board of Trustees. He nominated Deidre McPherson and Stephen Love to serve and recommended reappointing lifelong board member Karen Moss to keep her seat.
Assembly for the Arts awards grants for art in redlined communities
Source: ideastream
Date: July 17, 2023
Abstract:
Assembly For the Arts has announced 16 artists are receiving grants to create work in Cleveland and East Cleveland. Each award of $6,250 is for projects in redlined communities which traditionally lack arts investment. Artists will also receive professional development opportunities and support from Assembly for the Arts, an advocacy group for arts and culture in the region.
Some of the projects receiving support include an ice cream truck that’s been converted into a portable recording studio and an elderly visual artist whose work focuses on the impact of domestic violence. The grants are drawn from $140,000 in Cuyahoga Arts & Culture funding.
“You’re going to see neighborhoods that we don’t always associate with arts and culture,” said Assembly President Jeremy Johnson. Calling the areas “potential-bound,” he said that many of the artists have been living and working in the neighborhoods for years.
“I don’t want to say we’re bringing arts to communities,” he said. “We are ‘surfacing’ arts and culture that’s already there and helping it blossom even more.”
Cleveland Institute of Art student’s mural selected for Cleveland Foundation’s MidTown Collaboration Center
CLEVELAND—Cleveland Institute of Art student Aniyah King’s “Growth From Within,” a mural that symbolizes growth and progress in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood and represents Hough residents’ pride and passion, will be installed at the Cleveland Foundation’s MidTown Collaboration Center when it opens in 2025.
In fall 2022, Cleveland Foundation asked CIA and Assembly for the Arts to lead a collaborative design project for a mural that would benefit the Hough community, CIA students and MidTown Collaboration Center stakeholders.
CIA devised a faculty-led project within an existing class taken by students representing multiple majors, and Assembly for the Arts organized a committee that would choose the final mural design through a transparent selection process.
Ohio could reverse course on potential Cuyahoga County vape tax, allow higher tax on cigarettes
Source: Cleveland.com
Date: June 26, 2023
Abstract:
COLUMBUS, Ohio—State lawmakers are considering rolling back a recent state law designed to raise more money from Cuyahoga County’s cigarette tax, though they’re seeking a replacement plan that could bring in even more revenue by allowing an increase in the tax rate itself.
Read full article here: https://www.cleveland.com/news/2023/06/ohio-could-reverse-course-on-potential-cuyahoga-county-vape-tax-allow-higher-tax-on-cigarettes.html
Assembly Creative Impact Fund
About the Creative Impact Fund
The Assembly for the Arts Creative Impact Fund (CIF) will be awarded to sixteen (16) artists, art collectives, and informal groups with $6,250 for flexible funding and project-based placemaking. Our goal with this Fund is to support the investment and growth of transformative arts projects with a focus in redlined communities that lack arts investment, developing areas of significant arts activity, and promoting increased walkability. This Fund will help lay the groundwork for the City of Cleveland’s Rescue & Transformation Plan, which identified Arts and Neighborhood Amenities as a priority.
The Creative Impact Fund is open to individual artists or art collectives of all expressions, including but not limited to painting, sculpture, photography, film/motion pictures, dance, ballet, theatre, music, comedy/improv, writing/literature, architecture, design, and fashion. In addition to funds, CIF also includes professional development, marketing support, and connections (creative, business, and institutional). Priority will be given to artists of color and art collectives with diverse representation. The Creative Impact Fund is funded by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. Individual artists, multi-disciplinary artist collectives, and informal groups are encouraged to apply.
The Creative Impact Fund Includes:
- $6,250 includes up to $2,500 in unrestricted support and $3,750 in project support
- Support from Assembly’s staff who will advise project leads in attaining their project goals via marketing and professional development support and connections to institutional partners, potential collaborators or thought partners
- Assembly for the Arts Membership
Eligibility
- The Creative Impact Fund is open to individual artists and artist collectives that reside in Cuyahoga County.
- Applicants must be 18 years of age or older.
- Applicants cannot be staff or board members of Assembly for the Arts or Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
- Applicant projects must be centered around arts and culture and focused in creative discipline including, but not limited to, visual art, media/film, dance, theater, music, comedy/improv, literature, design and/or craft.
- Eligible Creative Impact Fund projects must take place in one of the following neighborhoods:
- Asiatown
- Broadway-Slavic Village
- Buckeye-Woodhill
- Central-Kinsman
- Clark Fulton
- East Cleveland
- Fairfax
- Glenville
- Hough
- Lee Harvard
- Midtown
- Mr. Pleasant
- North Collinwood
- Shaker Square
- South Collinwood
- St. Clair Superior
- Union Miles
- Applicants do not need to reside in one of listed neighborhoods to be eligible for this program, however they must be able to demonstrate partnership or collaboration with residents of the community where their project is being proposed.
- Only one application per artist will be accepted. Please note: artists applying as part of a collective, will not be eligible to submit an individual application.
How to Apply
Interested artists and teams can apply using the online application found on this Assembly web page using the Apply button above.
Paper applications will be accepted for accessibility reasons on a case-by-case basis. If you have a disability and require assistance in applying for CIF, please contact cif@assemblycle.org
Additional language services and accessibility support for CIF applicants are available upon request.
Selection Criteria
Applications will be evaluated for funds based on the following criteria:
- Artist or collective demonstrates past creative project management experience
- Artists or collectives that have limited past creative or project experience must be able to illustrate a plan to support the development of their proposed project
- Project is feasible within the confines of the proposed budget
- Project centers arts and culture and stimulates the investment and growth of redlined communities in the City of Cleveland or the City of East Cleveland
- Project is innovative and imaginative and demonstrates engagement with the community
Review Process
CIF grantees will be selected by a 3-5 person jury that includes artists, administrators, and community leaders from outside of the arts and culture industry, with one member of the jury from outside Greater Cleveland.
For questions and full program details, see the Program Guidelines and FAQ buttons above.
For additional questions, please email cif@assemblycle.org
Creative Impact Fund Information Sessions
Learn more about the Creative Impact Fund and how to apply at our upcoming info sessions.
Wed, March 22 / 4-5:30pm at East Cleveland Public Library
Tues, March 28 / 12-1:30 pm via Zoom
Thurs, March 30 / 6-7:30pm at Union Miles Development Corp
Thurs, April 6 / 6-7:30pm at the LGBTQ Community Center
Creative Impact Fund Office Hours
Sign up for office hours learn more about the Creative Impact Fund and assistance with your application.
FAQ
How much of the $6,250 should be project vs. flexible funds? Awardees can use up to $2,500 (maximum) as flexible funding and the remaining $3,750 must go towards your project.
What does flexible funding and project funding mean? Flexible funding means the funds are unrestricted and monies can be used to support both yourself and/or the project. Project funds are to be used to cover costs for developing, producing, and presenting your project. A budget is required as part of the CIF application. We encourage good practice around project management, budgeting, planning, and documenting. Recipients will have the accountability of budgeting and keeping documentation of expenses for final reporting, including receipts.
In addition to project and flexible funds, what else do CIF awardees receive? In addition to the $6,250, artists/collectives will receive support from Assembly’s staff who will be available to advise project leads in support of their project goals and needs. This includes connections to institutional partners, potential collaborators or thought partners, professional development, and marketing support. Awardees will also receive a complimentary Assembly for the Arts membership.
Are there any geography restrictions? Applicants must reside in Cuyahoga County.
Who is this Fund for? Open to individual artists, art collectives or informal groups (ages 18 and older) of all creative expressions, including but not limited to painting, sculpture, photography, film/motion pictures, dance, ballet, theatre, music, comedy/improv, writing/literature, architecture, design, fashion, archaeology, history, natural history, or the natural sciences. In addition to funds, CIF also includes professional development, marketing support, and connections (creative, business, and institutional). Preference will be given to artists or art collectives who reside in redlined communities.