Learning Inside Out Network to receive $10,000 grant from National Endowment for the Arts

The Learning Inside Out Network  is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts to receive a Challenge America award of $10,000. This grant will support InsideOut StoryLab: Boundaries and Bridges. Collaborators will curate a story collection from both incarcerated and unconfined writers to be distributed by portable story dispensers inside and outside of carceral settings in Alaska. This grant is one of 262 Challenge America awards totaling $2.62 million that the NEA announced as part of its first round of fiscal year 2023 grants.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, Ph.D. “Projects such as this one with LION strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.”

The goal of the project is also to promote reading amongst incarcerated Alaskans by distributing locally sourced and global content to an incarcerated, information-deprived community. Through the StoryCube, incarcerated individuals will both have the opportunity to publish their stories and also read excellent work that is made available through the dispenser.

The story collection will be edited by Alaska-based writer and editor Jaclyn Bergamino, current editor of Marrow Magazine, who has taught creative writing for incarcerated students in Alaska. Fairbanks-based artist Naomi Hutchquist, who has previously created award-winning animation for LION, will assist with art and editorial work with comic-based submissions. The project is overseen by Sarah Stanley, associate professor of English at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and founder of StoryLab.

“At a time when we are reevaluating the who, what, where, why, and how of higher education, the importance of equity and inclusion is essential,” said Ellen Lopez, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “LION and all it represents has been a strong advocate for valuing education for its interdependence with our physical, mental, social, and community wellbeing.” 

As an instructional designer for UAF eCampus, Elle Fournier will provide programmatic support for Boundaries and Bridges collection, as well as marketing and data management via the project website. Additionally, UAF eCampus provides technical services like web hosting, transcription services, and accessibility checking which will contribute to the project.

Short Édition has agreed to review the collection for inclusion in their globally-available selection of stories. Short Édition pays writers for their work, both through initial purchases and royalties. LION will work with Short Édition to facilitate equitable funding for inside and outside writers.

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.