Crown Legacy Program Receives NOTCF Level 2 Grant for Parish Stories: Data-to-Story Labs
- Joseph Crown
- Nov 12
- 2 min read
We’re thrilled to share big news: The Crown Legacy Program has been awarded a Level 2 grant from the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund (NOTCF) to launch Parish Stories: Data-to-Story Labs—a citywide initiative that helps cultural creatives turn local datasets into living culture.
What is Parish Stories?
Parish Stories is a multiday-cohort creative lab based in neighborhood venues—community spaces, cultural centers, and cafés across New Orleans. Participants explore local data (housing, storms, transit, health) with ethics and context, then transform insights into short stories, poems, comics, and one-minute audio pieces. We invite you to work with data, express yourselves through your stories, and share more effectively what is happening around us.
Who this is for
If you make culture in any medium, Parish Stories is for you. We’re building mixed, multi-day labs for creators who shape New Orleans’ voice every day—on stages, streets, feeds, and kitchen tables. Think:
Story + sound: spoken-word poets, storytellers, theatre makers, bounce artists, DJs/producers, brass band musicians.
Visual + design: muralists, illustrators, comics creators, photographers, videographers, sign painters, float/costume/feather artists.
Memory + meaning: cultural historians, librarians, archivists, zine makers, foodways tradition bearers (recipes, rituals).
Community voices across identities: Black, Vietnamese, Latinx, Haitian, Indigenous Houma Nation, LGBTQIA+, youth and elders, and disabled or neurodivergent artists who benefit from multimodal formats.
You don’t need to be a “data person.” If you’re curious about turning local information into art that travels—with credit and care—you’re in the right place.
Why it matters
In New Orleans, stories are more than art—they’re infrastructure. Parish Stories helps you read a table or map, spot what’s missing, add community context, and turn numbers into narratives that can be shared online and onstage. The payoff: clearer public conversation, stronger cultural memory, and real opportunities for local artists to be seen, cited, and supported.
Where & when
Format: Multi-day labs hosted across New Orleans.
Right now: We’re shaping source materials, mentors, curriculum, and inviting collaborators.
By January: We’ll publish the schedule and curriculum and open sign-ups.
With gratitude
Thank you to NOTCF for supporting community-rooted storytelling. This grant helps us connect local data with creative practice—so numbers become narratives, and dialogue strengthens community.
We invite you to stay connected. Visit the Crown Legacy Program website regularly to stay informed about our ongoing community work, including educational initiatives and our new Lagniappe Logic podcast. Follow our updates, join our mailing list, or reach out if you’d like to collaborate. And be sure to check out my Amazon Author Profile for details on these titles and future releases.
Together, let’s build a legacy of literacy, creativity, and transformation. Thank you for being a part of this journey. Go download your free books today – read them, enjoy them, and help us share the gift of reading with others. By turning pages, you’re helping turn the tide on illiteracy and igniting change that will resonate far beyond this month.
Joseph Santiago, Executive Director, Crown Legacy Program joe@crownlegacyprogram.org