| City Coronavirus Funds Provide Relief to Phoenix Artists & Arts and Culture Organizations | https://www.phoenix.gov/newsroom/arts-and-culture/1423 | Arts and Culture | | 7/24/2020 7:00:00 PM | https://www.phoenix.gov/newssite/Lists/NewsArticle/Attachments/1423/Newsroom_Arts_051.jpg | | City Coronavirus Funds Provide Relief to Phoenix Artists & Arts and Culture Organizations | <div class="ExternalClassC354AFA911FD450F9C1F6470D0B086F5"><html>The City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture announced emergency relief grants to 68 nonprofit arts and culture organizations and 272 individual artists as part of the city's Coronavirus Relief Fund. The federal government allocated $293 million to the City of Phoenix and during its May 12, 2020 meeting, the City Council approved allocating $2.6 million for an Arts and Culture Coronavirus Relief Program. <br><br>Of that $2.6 million, $1,885,000 was designated for grants to nonprofit arts and culture organizations and $700,000 to artists negatively impacted financially because of the global health emergency. The remaining $15,000 will be used to contract consultants and facilitators to conduct workshops, webinars, and resources that would help nonprofit arts and culture organizations and individual artists navigate their financial futures moving forward into the new normal.<br><br>“Nationally, to date, the nonprofit arts and culture sector has had $9.1 billion in losses. In Phoenix, arts and culture organizations are forecasting losses between $10,000 and over $1 million from March 1 through the summer with the majority having to implement a reduction in staffing with furloughs, layoffs, and canceled artists contracts" said Mitch Menchaca, executive director of the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture. “These funds will help artists who lost income due to canceled events or terminated contracts because of the pandemic. Grant funding will also help Phoenix's arts and culture organizations retain staff and have the opportunity to plan for the future." <br><br>The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture has an equity strategy that aims to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented marginalized groups' full participation from the agency's programs and to strengthen equity, diversity, and inclusion in the arts and culture sector for all Phoenix residents. The 68 funded organizations represent all artistic disciplines, budget sizes, and City Council districts. <br><br><a target="_blank" href="/artssite/Documents/PhoenixCRFOrganizationalGrants2020.pdf">Full List of Organizational Grantees</a><br><br>The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture was one of nine local arts agencies across the country awarded an additional $250,000 in CARES Act funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Nine to regrant to arts organizations for job preservation this fall. In addition, the Office of Arts and Culture will open a second round of artist support. Both applications will be available in late summer. Learn more at <a target="_blank" href="/arts">www.phoenix.gov/arts</a>.<br></html></div> | https://www.phoenix.gov/arts | News | arts-and-culture |
| NEA Approves Phoenix Organizations for CARES Act Funding | https://www.phoenix.gov/newsroom/arts-and-culture/1374 | Arts and Culture | | 7/2/2020 6:00:00 PM | https://www.phoenix.gov/newssite/Lists/NewsArticle/Attachments/1374/Newsroom_Arts_050.jpg | | NEA Approves Phoenix Organizations for CARES Act Funding | <div class="ExternalClassFEF6DE82C16245B6BD4323916275EADF"><html>The National Endowment for the Arts announced the nonprofit arts organizations recommended for direct funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The NEA funded 855 organizations, $50,000 are offered to 846 organizations, including four in the city of Phoenix to support staff salaries, fees for artists or contractual personnel, and facilities costs. Nine local arts agencies across the country, including the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture will receive $250,000 each to regrant to arts organizations in their communities.<br><br>Direct CARES Act Grantees in Phoenix<br><ul><li>Arizona Opera </li><li>Ballet Arizona</li><li>Phoenix Conservatory of Music</li><li>The Phoenix Theatre Company </li></ul>The Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), a regional nonprofit arts service organization representing 13 western states also announced the recipients of its CARES Relief Fund for Organizations grants. Supported by the NEA, this competitive grant program was established to provide general operating support to arts and cultural organizations in the West that have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Four Arizona organizations were selected for funding, including Phoenix's Black Theatre Troupe.<br><br>The NEA received more than 3,100 eligible applications requesting $157 million for the $45 million available in direct assistance. To review the applications, the agency used more than 200 application readers and panelists to review and score each application using the published review criteria. In April, the agency announced the distribution of the required 40 percent of the CARES Act's total $75 million appropriation to the state and regional arts agencies for their granting programs. Each agency has its own process and timeline for awarding those funds, however, the Arts Endowment anticipates that together those entities will make between 4,200 and 5,600 awards.<br><br>“All of us at the National Endowment for the Arts are keenly aware that arts organizations across the country are hurting, struggling, and trying to survive and that our supply of funding does not come close to meeting the demand for assistance," said Arts Endowment Chairman Mary Anne Carter. “That said, I am enormously proud of the over-and-above efforts of the Arts Endowment staff to swiftly and professionally manage such a large amount of additional work in a relatively short period of time on behalf of the American public."<br><br>Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the Arts Endowment supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America's rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit <a href="https://www.arts.gov" target="_blank">Arts.gov</a> to learn more.<br></html></div> | https://www.phoenix.gov/arts | News | arts-and-culture |
