One Nation One Project (ONOP) is a national initiative that began with Gainesville and eight other U.S. cities. The goal of One Nation One Project is to put a spotlight on the proven health benefits of arts participation on individuals and communities, all while uniting artists, local governments and community health providers.
In January 2022, the City Commission recognized youth gun violence as a local issue. This issue has worsened in the aftermath of the pandemic. For this reason, the City Commission decided to:
- Apply to take part in One Nation One Project.
- Put two percent of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funds ($648,172) towards art and culture activities. These art and culture activities aim to address youth violence.
Gainesville has now joined
One Nation One Project. This project is part of a three-phase process. It begins with engaging the community, and collaborating on art and cultural programming. The city has created a youth steering committee to engage local affected youth. The city has also engaged community members in the field of health, youth services and the arts. In the next step of this initiative, Gainesville and 17 other U.S. cities, will premiere a public art project in July 2024. This campaign will be called
Arts for EveryBody.
- Projects will be larger in nature in partnership with other community institutions
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Projects are lead by the information gathered in Phase One
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Applications for Phase Two are open Sept. 5 - Oct. 2, 2023
- The awarded projects will run until summer 2024
- A large coordinated community event to showcase the work done in Phase One and Two (Arts for EveryBody)
- Save the date for the grand finale July 27, 2024
The Phase One Community listening activity applications closed on April 30. We had a total of 66 applications submitted, and 20 projects were selected to move forward.
These projects will serve both of the following purposes:
- Support youth engagement in arts and cultural programs and events.
- Promote well-being and reduce youth gun violence.
| Organization |
Project Name |
Project Summary |
| Aces In Motion |
Through My Eyes (TME) |
The Through My Eyes project is a summer program for Aces In Motion students. They will create an artwork to help them deal with and recover from gun violence in their community. Through My Eyes will be a song made by AIM students. It will show how young people in Gainesville see the problem of gun violence in their community. AIM has its own music studio, so it makes sense for the students to create a song for this project. |
| Acrosstown Repertory Theatre |
Gator Actors Guild (GAG) |
The Acrosstown Repertory Theatre will bring theater to communities that don't have much access to the arts. They plan to create a traveling youth theater troupe called the Gator Actors Guild. Students in the Gator Actors Guild will perform plays written by a local playwright. These plays will be about Florida's beautiful nature, history, and stories. The guild will visit underserved communities and perform for free at local venues. |
| Against All Odds Movement |
PEACE UP, GUNS DOWN: A Youth Healing and Arts Empowerment Community Jam for Gun Violence Awareness |
Peace Up, Guns Down is an event that aims to bring people together and promote peace and unity. It includes a town hall meeting for young people, a community field day, and a fair where we offer resources. This event is open to people of all ages and aims to unite the community through art and culture. It provides a safe space for youth and families affected by gun violence to gather. To educate, promote well-being, heal racial divisions and advocate for social justice. |
| Bailey Learning Arts and Collective |
Writing to Heal: Our Stories of Survival |
Writing to Heal is a workshop where people can write to find comfort and healing. It takes place at Santa Fe College CIED. The workshop is for women aged 18-24. They can share their stories of triumph and learn techniques that help them heal. The goal is to create a safe space for them to express themselves and support their healing journey. |
| Emoji Therapy Center, LLC |
Emoji Youth Mindfulness Workshop |
The Emoji Youth Mindfulness Workshop is an event for young people to learn about gun violence and reflect on it using arts. The workshop aims to increase mindfulness among youth in these areas. The workshop begins with music, movement, and meditation. Participants will engage in guided breathing exercises and movement led by the facilitator. The facilitator will also explain how these exercises relate to mindfulness. The workshop includes three breakout sessions on different topics:
- Peer pressure and drug influences on teens
- Decision-making and gun violence
- Anti-bullying and positive self-esteem
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| HYPE 100 Radio Station |
Bang With Your Beats, Not With Your Heat |
Bang With Your Beats, Not With Your Heat is a group of events to promote community healing and well-being. The events will focus on leadership training, artist development, early intervention and mentoring. There will also be career development through hands-on multimedia training for youth. |
| La Selva Studios, LLC |
Banners Over Bullets: Elevating Community Voices through Visual Arts & Media |
La Selva Art Studios is hosting an event to design fabric banners and host a youth dialogue. The banners and discussion will address gun violence in Gainesville. Participants can display their handmade banners at homes, schools, churches or during marches. A therapist will lead the discussion. This will allow youth to talk about their views and experiences related to gun violence. |
| M.A.M.As Club |
Arise! Stop the Bullying, Stop Gun Violence and Domestic Violence in Porters Quarters |
M.A.M.As Club is hosting three events to address bullying and self-esteem among middle school youth. These events will serve students in Porters Quarters, a historically Black neighborhood. Each event will feature music, dance and other performances. There will also be a journaling aspect of the event. |
| The Repurpose Project |
The Expression Project |
The Repurpose Project Community Center is hosting a 12-week summer workshop. This workshop will serve children and their families, mentors or guardians. Each workshop will focus on a different project. Some of these projects include mural painting, mosaics, jewelry fabrication or creating music. These projects aim to foster inspiration and creativity. Participants will also have a chance to discuss their feelings about gun violence. These conversations will happen alongside the art projects. Art serves as a way to process emotions in whatever way the creator finds beneficial to them. |
| Deeproots Arts & Culture Creative Services LLC |
Community Experience Mural project Greater Duval |
The Community Experience Mural Project aims to create a mural at the Clarence R. Kelly Center. This mural will be representative of the experiences of those in the area. Youth and adult participants ages 18-85 are welcome to be a part of the process. This multi-generational collaboration will help foster ownership of this public space. This mural aims to have a positive impact on the nearby community. |
| Dream on Purpose, Inc. |
Cupcakes & Conversations: S.O.S. (Saving our Selves) from Gun Violence |
Cupcakes and Conversations is a two-session program including discussions, painting and skill-building. The program will empower young women to become agents of change. They will learn leadership skills, coping mechanisms and showing empathy for their peers. Change agents aim to help reduce youth gun violence in their community. |
| DWMT Productions |
Production Ain’t Easy Workshops |
The Production Ain't Easy workshop empowers and mentors young individuals. They learn photography and film production as a way to express themselves. The two-part series comprises of a workshop and a digital showcase of their work. |
| The Education Equalizer Foundation |
Education Equalizer Oratorical Competition |
The Education Equalizer Foundation helps middle and high school students graduate. It also helps them and their families understand the college admissions process. The foundation organizes an oratorical competition for ages 14 to 24. The topic is how attending college can help prevent gun violence in the community. |
| Released |
Educate not Incarcerate |
Educate not Incarcerate is hosting an eight-week psycho-educational group for youth. This group aims to assist those affected by the criminal justice system. The group will end with the creation of a community mural and project. Participants will meet weekly for group education and then work on the mural for two weeks. They will have the freedom to choose the theme and location of the project. They will be collaborating with each other, the community and the environment. |
| Pace Center for Girls, Alachua |
Aiming for Peace |
The Pace Center for Girls will showcase student creative art projects and spoken-word poetry. The themes will revolve around union, peace, love and family. The event will also address the urgent issue of youth gun violence. The showcase aims to raise awareness about the challenges faced by girls. It also aims to unite the community in a shared cause for their futures. |
| The Henry & Rilla White Youth Foundation |
Color My World |
Color My World is an art event for youth re-entering their community from the juvenile justice system. The program will guide youth in proposal making, budgeting and planning. They will be participating an art or cultural event of their choosing. |
| Smooth Flava Dance GNV |
Everybody in a Jam!
|
The Everybody in a Jam! program introduces youth to the urban dance community. This provides both immediate creativity and lifelong satisfaction. Through a 3-day line dance workshop, Everybody in a Jam! will address gun violence and educate youth about the legal consequences of juvenile firearm use. |
| Greater Duval Neighborhood Association |
Out East Youth Chat and Chew Healing from the Hood |
The Greater Duval Neighborhood Association will bring together youth aged 14 to 24. They will share their experiences about gun violence in a videotaped storytelling event. This will be a "Story Circle" where they will share personal stories related to a common theme. The association will present the event as a lunch and learn session. The GDSA will share the stories on YouTube. |
| Figure On Diversity |
OUTSHOWN |
The UF Health Youth Gender Clinic and Gainesville Fine Arts Association (GFAA) are partnering to offer a free 3-day workshop. The workshop is open to 20 trans and gender-expansive students aged 14-21. Students will learn the art of figure drawing during the workshop. For two days, they will draw clothed life models who identify as trans or gender-expansive. On the third day, students will create self-portraits. After the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to showcase their final projects in a month-long exhibition of self-portraiture at GFAA. The exhibition will also feature work from professional artists. |
| Wake Up & Dream, Incorporated |
Wake Up & Dream Summer Awareness Program |
This program engages males aged 13-18 in Alachua County through learning experiences. Photos, images and music will help them understand cultural and social dynamics. The program will raise awareness about gun violence and mental health. This program promotes positivity and better-decision making skills. It aims to reduce the likelihood of involvement in gun violence. |
The Phase Two Grant Application closed on Monday, Oct. 2. Awarded projects respond Community Listening Data gathered in Phase One, while upholding the core purpose of One Nation One Project – GNV to prevent youth gun violence by:
- Engaging youth who are at risk or have been impacted by gun violence in arts and cultural programs and events.
- Promoting well-being through the arts.
The following projects were selected to receive Phase Two grant funding, based upon their scores from an independent review panel.
Phase Two projects will begin Jan. 1, 2024, and run through August 15, 2024.
Aces in Motion - “Healing Through Music and Sport”
A project that will provide a unique experience for youth that leverages power of healing through music, sports and mental health counselling. Organic discussions with mental health professionals will focus on their experience with gun violence.
BLSSD Future - “Everybody in a Jam!”
A monthly youth line dance program from January to June, combined with a youth education forum focused on both the emotional and legal issues surrounding gun violence. There will be an intergenerational public dance party following each week.
Community Impact Corporation - “UR Life”
This program will use a combination of performing arts, artistic experiences and life skills training to engage youth to meet goals of engaging youth impacted by or at a high risk of gun violence, incorporate mental health wellbeing, and increase arts and cultural programming and wellbeing activities in under-resourced communities.
Dream On Purpose - “Filming with a Purpose”
An immersive film production experience meticulously designed to enlighten, engage, and empower youth to delve into the film industry and explore the critical and timely topic of youth gun violence prevention, under the support of a mental health counselor.
Hippodrome Theatre - “Lend Me Your Ears Gainesville”
“Lend Me Your Ears” pairs student playwrights with professional actors, writers, and artists. Under the guidance of theater professionals, young people from the Gainesville community who have been affected by or have been the authors of gun violence are encouraged to use theater, specifically playwriting, to examine the topic.
This topic and literary forms are investigated and examined in conjunction with readings from plays by William Shakespeare, classes in communication and examined through the practice of Restorative Justice, an approach to justice that aims to repair the harm done to victims and deeply examine the motivation behind the actions of those who have caused harm.
Willie Mae Stokes Foundation - “Who’s in the Box?”
Youth will participate in a dramatic theatre presentation depicting before, during, and after an act of gun violence in their community. This presentation will educate young people about the dangers of gun violence, appeal to youth to resist gun violence and offer alternatives to resolving conflicts.
The city is partnering with artists, mental health practitioners and community organizations. Some of the partnership opportunities include:
Lead a Community Listening Activity.
The goal of these activities is to:
Invite us to your event!
If you are already hosting an arts or wellness event, let us know: onop_gnv@gainesvillefl.gov.
Share out the information about the activities of ONOP.
- Please feel free to share social media posts, fliers, and other media to spread the word about ONOP.
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@onopgnv to stay up to date.