Denver Arts & Venues Announces $500,000 in Recovery Funding for Non-Profit Arts Organizations
Denver Arts & Venues Announces $500,000 in Recovery Funding for Non-Profit Arts Organizations
A partnership with The National Endowment for The Arts (NEA) to distribute American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds
Denver Arts & Venues is pleased to announce they have been selected to receive an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. Arts & Venues has received $500,000 and will use this funding to distribute grants in their community to eligible recipients to save jobs and to fund operations and facilities, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional efforts to encourage attendance and participation. In total, the NEA will award grants totaling $20,200,000 to 66 local arts agencies nationwide for subgranting.
“The NEA’s significant investment in local arts agencies, including Denver Arts & Venues is a key element in helping the arts and culture sector recover and reopen, while ensuring that that American Rescue Plan funding is distributed equitably,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. “These grants recognize the vital role of local arts agencies and will allow them to help rebuild local economies and contribute to the well-being of our communities.”
“COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on Denver’s arts organizations,” said Ginger White, Denver Arts & Venues executive director. “With this funding, and other grant programs that Arts & Venues has initiated over the past two years, we are committing to helping arts organizations recover and rebuild from the economic impacts of the pandemic.”
The purpose of the 2022 Denver Arts & Venues Recovery Fund is to provide up to $15,000 grants to non-profit arts and cultural organizations located in the City and County of Denver whose 2021 annual revenue was $1,000,000 or less and who suffered losses as a direct result of the COVID-19 crisis and have reopened or plan to reopen. Denver Arts & Venues also aims to provide funding for organizations that remain financially vulnerable to COVID-19 impacts, organizations owned or led by members of historically marginalized communities, and organizations supporting historically marginalized communities.
Funding for these grants came through the second of three installments of the NEA’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding. Last April, the NEA announced that 40 percent of its $135 million in ARP funding would be allocated to 62 state, jurisdictional, and regional arts organizations for regranting through their respective programs. On November 18, 2021, the NEA announced American Rescue Plan grants totaling $20,200,000 to 66 local arts agencies for subgranting to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. On Jan. 27, the National Endowment for the Arts announced it has recommended American Rescue Plan (ARP) awards totaling $57,750,000 to 567 arts organizations to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic.
For more information on the NEA’s American Rescue Plan grants, including the full list of local arts agencies funded in this announcement, visit www.arts.gov/COVID-19/the-american-rescue-plan.
Applications will open April 18.
Funding will be awarded to selected non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations located in the City and County of Denver whose 2021 annual revenue was $1,000,000 or less and whose main mission and focus is on arts, culture and the creative industries, including performing arts, theater, dance, music, visual arts, film, photography, arts and cultural education, and more that meet the following eligibility criteria:
● Must have been fully operational on or before March 1, 2020
● Must be operating as a non-profit 501(c)(3) entity
● Must be located in the City and County of Denver
● Have 2021 revenues that did not exceed $1,000,000
● Must be able to show loss of income and/or increased costs directly due to COVID-19
Applications will be accepted April 18 – May 13, 2022 and award notifications will be issued 30 days after the application closes. Funding must be spent no later than Dec. 31, 2022.
More information can be found at www.ArtsandVenues.com/NEA-ARPA.