Love sculpture for Harvest Hope Park by Lead Artist Junior Polo was funded by a Treasure Tampa grant by the Gobioff Foundation. Photo by Gianna Rendina-Gobioff

For Good: Gobioff Foundation launches new microgrant program

Amy Hammond | Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Love sculpture for Harvest Hope Park by Lead Artist Junior Polo was funded by a Treasure Tampa grant by the Gobioff Foundation. Photo by Gianna Rendina-Gobioff

Painting Ourselves Visible mural installed at HCC Dale Mabry by Aya Tarek and funded by the Gobioff Foundation. Neil Gobioff

Echo Quilt by Livework Studios, a past Gobioff grant recipient. Gianna Rendina-Gobioff

Calling all creators: Is your project idea a public display, performance, or exhibition? Will it occur in Pinellas or Hillsborough? Do you need $500 to realize the vision? If the answers to all the above are ‘yes,’ the Gobioff Foundation has good news. Beginning February 1, the nonprofit will begin accepting applications for microgrants.

“We’re looking forward to supporting all types of projects,” says Foundation President Neil Gobioff. “We hope to see concerts, exhibitions, performances, installations and more.”

The Think Small to Think Big microgrant program served as inspiration for the new award. The Gobioff Foundation funded it for a few years, beginning in 2011; more than 50 projects in various areas of the arts came to fruition because of the individual $500 grants. Now the Gobioff Foundation has brought the program in-house and expects it to inspire more opportunities for area artists -- and to inspire the Tampa area at large.

“Equitable outcomes are extremely important to us,” Gobioff says. “We strongly encourage artists that represent all aspects of humanity to apply.”

Enhancing the cultural landscape of the Tampa Bay Area is the overriding goal of the microgrants. Gobioff hopes to see applications from students, teachers, curators, professional and amateur artists, and more. Artists of all ages are invited to apply.

The microgrant program joins the Foundation’s $30,000 Treasure Tampa grant, aimed to encourage creative placemaking through funding such projects as the 2019 Painting Ourselves Visible through the nonprofit Art2Action.

Looking to the future, the Foundation has launched a youth board to impart the ideals of philanthropy to the next generation. Their newly redesigned website unifies the Treasure Tampa site and its main page. And their organizational aim remains the same.

“We continue to grant to the arts in the region as well as civil liberties and human rights organizations,” Gobioff says.

Interested in applying for a microgrant? Want to review microgrant applications? Visit the Gobioff Foundation website.

Read more articles by Amy Hammond.

Amy Hammond is a freelance writer and author of children’s books that encourage the next generation to attend college. When not indoctrinating youth about the necessity of higher education, she enjoys exploring the paradise that is her St. Petersburg home. She holds a degree in Public Relations from the University of Florida and a Masters in Secondary English Education from the University of South Florida. Her work has appeared in such venues as the Tampa Bay Times. Children’s Book Titles by Amy Hammond include: When I Grow Up, I’ll Be a Gator; When I Grow Up, I’ll Be a ‘Nole; When I Grow Up, I’ll Be a Bull; When I Grow Up, I’m Bama Bound; When I Grow Up, I’ll Be a Tiger.