SONA / Courtesy photo
Twenty-three local arts and cultural non-profit organizations impacted by COVID-19 received grant funding from the NWA Council’s Arts Organization, officials announced this week.
The organizations each received between $10,000 and $50,000, for a total of $500,000.
The program was supported by a Walton Family Foundation grant intended to provide funding to support “transitional and long-term planning for arts and culture organizations impacted by COVID-19.”
“Grant recipients have a unique opportunity to reimagine their future, rejuvenate their work and rethink their audiences’ needs,” said Allyson Esposito, the regional arts organization’s executive director. “Many of the grantee organizations serve the region’s most vulnerable communities, and it’s critical to support them as they stabilize and plan for the future.”
Around 45 organizations applied for the funding. A volunteer panel made the recommendations on which organizations should receive funding based on the budget size of the organization, the extent of lost revenue and non-recoverable expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19, along with “the strength and feasibility of each organization’s plan to adapt in response to the current pandemic.”
The funds can be used for a variety of purposes, including transition planning and support activities such as: developing new business models, paradigms, staffing models, programs and strategies; planning new activities for revenue generation; building capacity, tools and infrastructure to take programming online; and re-imagining creative production.
The full list of non-profits that received awards is below.
For more information, visit nwacouncil.org.
Organizations receiving funding
Ability Tree
Arkansas Arts & Fashion Forum
Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese
Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra
Art Feeds
Art Ventures
Community Creative Center
Fayetteville Roots
Latin Art Organization of Arkansas
Marshallese Educational Initiative
Museum of Native American History
Music Moves
PIXEL: A School For Media Arts
NWA Ballet Theatre
Open Mouth Reading Series
Ra-Ve Cultural Foundation
Teen Action and Support Center
The Art Experience Inc.
The House of Songs
Symphony of Northwest Arkansas
TheatreSquared LatinX Theatre Project
Tricycle Theatre for Youth
Trillium Salon Series
