Alabama arts organizations to benefit from federal COVID-19 relief grants
The Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery is one of seven Alabama arts organizations receiving new grants through the American Rescue Plan to help institutions hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. (contributed)
Seven Alabama cultural organizations will benefit from a combined $850,000 in federal grants designed to aid arts and educational institutions that have been hard-hit by the ongoing pandemic.
The newly awarded grants are among $57 million in support being provided to organizations across the United States through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) under the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The grants will fund arts organization operations, protect jobs and support marketing and promotional campaigns aimed at boosting attendance and engagement.
The Alabama arts and cultural organizations receiving support during this latest round of funding are Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark and its metal arts program, and the arts and education organization Space One Eleven in Birmingham; the Alabama Contemporary Art Center and the Mobile Opera, both in the Port City; the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the Alabama Writers’ Forum, both in Montgomery; and Tuskegee University.
Space One Eleven, the Contemporary Art Center, the Shakespeare Festival and Tuskegee University will each receive $150,000; the Sloss Furnaces Foundation and the Alabama Writers’ Forum will receive $100,000 each; and the Mobile Opera will receive $50,000.
Signed into law in March 2021, the ARP included $135 million in funding for NEA to support the arts sector. The dollars were distributed in three installments:
- To regional and state arts agencies for distribution through funding programs.
- To local arts agencies for grants.
- Directly to arts organizations to support their operations.
To date, 63 Alabama arts nonprofits have received ARP-funded grants awarded by the Alabama State Council on the Arts. A total of $814,100 was granted through the Alabama Arts Recovery Program to support essential operating expenses, including employment of Alabama workers. Click here to view a complete list.
“Support from the National Endowment for the Arts is vital to enriching our communities and expanding the quality of life for Alabamians,” said Elliot Knight, council executive director. “As arts organizations across the state continue to reopen and return to in-person operations, Alabama will greatly benefit from this federal investment in the arts.
“Our nation’s arts sector has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Endowment for the Arts’ American Rescue Plan funding will help arts organizations rebuild and reopen,” said Maria Rosario Jackson, NEA chair.
“The arts are crucial to helping America’s communities heal, unite and inspire, as well as essential to our nation’s economic recovery,” Jackson said.
Established by Congress in 1965, NEA is an independent federal agency that partners with state arts agencies, communities, federal agencies and the philanthropic sector to support the nation’s rich and diverse cultural heritage. To learn more, visit http://www.arts.gov.
Knight encouraged Alabama arts organizations to stay informed of grant opportunities available from the NEA and to apply often. “Each year, the NEA strives to award grants to each congressional district in the country, but they are only able to do this if applications have been submitted,” Knight said.
The Alabama State Council on the Arts is the state agency supporting the arts in Alabama. It works to expand and preserve the state’s cultural resources by supporting nonprofit arts organizations, schools, colleges, local governments and artists. Council on the Arts grants are made possible by annual appropriations from the Alabama Legislature and NEA funds. Learn more about the council at http://arts.alabama.gov.
