Challenge winner Big Night in Little Haiti brings the community together around great music. Credit: Rhythm Foundation

In the past week alone, South Dade opened a new theater, Overtown residents and artists painted a community mural, and a Miami filmmaker won big at Sundance. Meanwhile, local playwrights are getting a chance to put their works onstage in Miami Shores, and this weekend, film lovers can experience the latest in visual storytelling at an interactive media conference in Wynwood and Miami Beach.

The one thing these great ideas have in common is that they won funding through the Knight Arts Challenge, which is now accepting applications for big ideas for the South Florida arts.

The challenge has just one goal: art, everywhere – whether its an artist lecture series in Miramar or chamber choir music in Cutler Bay. In a region as diverse as ours, Knight Foundations sees the arts as a way to bring people together, to create the experiences that build great communities.

To solicit the best ideas we will be traveling around South Florida – from Marathon to Ft. Lauderdale – doing a series of Community Q and A sessions. Knight staff will be giving tips on how to craft an application, talking about the challenge timeline, and anything else that’s on people’s minds.

The schedule is below, we hope you’ll join us.

In the meantime, if you need a little inspiration feel free to look at this list of every project that has ever won challenge funding from Knight Foundation. And there’s always our handy collection of Frequently Asked Questions.

Beyond that, here’s what you need to know. There are just three rules to the challenge. Your idea must be about art, take place in or benefit South Florida, and selected projects must find funding to match Knight’s grant.

Applying is easy – it only takes about 150 words. The deadline is Feb. 24, 2014.

Why not start now? Community Q & A schedule:

• Monday, Feb. 3, 7 p.m.:  YoungArts, 2100 Biscayne Blvd., Jewel Box, Free parking in YoungArts garage
• Tuesday, Feb. 4, 7 p.m.: South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, Black Box Theater, 10950 SW 211th St., Miami
• Wednesday, Feb. 5, 7 p.m.: African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, 6161 NW 22nd Ave., Miami
• Thursday, Feb. 6, 7 p.m.: NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, Nova Southeastern University, One East Las Olas Blvd.
• Monday, Feb. 10, 1 p.m.: Marathon Government Center, 2798 Overseas Hwy. (Mile Marker 48), Marathon
• Tuesday, Feb. 11, 7 p.m., Frost Art Museum at Florida International University, 10975 SW 17th St., Miami (free parking in the Blue Garage)

Thanks to our great co-hosts: :  Bas Fisher Invitational,Cannonball,Miami Light Project, Sweat Records, WPBT2,Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs, ArtSouth, M Ensemble, Black Archives History and Research Foundation, Opa-locka Community Development Corp., Little Haiti Cultural Center, Miramar Cultural Trust,Broward Cultural Council,Art & Culture Center of Hollywood,Florida Keys Council of the Arts and Florida International University’s music, art, art history and creative writing departments.

Knight Arts Challenge South Florida from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.