April 6, 2020
Dear friends in Vermont’s arts community,
I hope this finds you well, and finding moments of inspiration and beauty, despite our worlds being turned inside out. All of us at the Vermont Arts Council are committed to supporting our artists and cultural organizations through this uncertain and troubling time. We need the arts now more than ever, to inspire and connect us, and to enable us to support each other with creativity and compassion.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents particular challenges for the arts and culture sector. We are working with federal and state partners to share information and to respond effectively to the needs in our field. I’m sharing a quick update, below. Please take care, stay in touch and let us know how we can help you!
Karen Mittelman
Executive Director, Vermont Arts Council
COVID-19 relief for artists and organizations:
For artists, freelance creatives, and cultural organizations, our COVID-19 web site has information, funding opportunities and additional resources to guide you.
Vermont Rapid Response Artist Relief provides grants up to $500 to artists who have lost income due to the loss of a job or cancellation of a scheduled gig or opportunity (e.g., commissions, performances, contracts, workshops, classes, etc.) because of COVID-19.
In one week, we received more than 175 requests for emergency relief funding from artists across Vermont. Applications are temporarily closed, so that Council staff can process requests, ramp up fundraising efforts, and assess the rapidly-changing needs in the field. We will be distributing $57,500 in grants in the coming weeks, with plans for more as funding allows. Please check back in mid-April!
We invite you to contribute to this effort using our secure online donation form.
Donate to the Rapid Response Relief Fund
Federal relief is on the way.
As most of you have heard, the CARES Act recently passed in Congress includes $75 million each for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. For the arts, we know that a portion of those funds will be available to nonprofit arts organizations directly from NEA, with guidelines being drafted now.
Vermont’s nonprofit arts and culture sector will also receive approximately $400,000 from the NEA, which will be distributed through the Arts Council. These funds are specifically intended to help nonprofit arts organizations across the country survive the forced closure of their operations in response to the spread of COVID-19. As soon as we have more information from NEA about how we can distribute those funds, we will post updates.
Regular Arts Council grant programs are on!
We have extended the deadlines of some of our grant programs, but have decided to keep others as is, in order to avoid delays in getting much-needed funding to the field. For complete information, please visit this page on COVID-19 and Vermont Arts Council grantmaking.
Here’s a quick summary:
Status: Continuing as planned
Original Deadline: May 4, 2020
New Deadline: Same
Status: Expanded eligibility to allow for general operating grants
Original Deadline: May 1, 2020
New Deadline: June 1, 2020
Status: Continuing as planned
Original Deadline: May 15
New Deadline: Same
Status: Continuing as planned
Original Deadline: April 13
New Deadline: Same
| Cultural Facilities
Status: Extended deadline Original Deadline: May 1, 2020 New Deadline: July 27, 2020
Animating Infrastructure (special design grants) Status: Closed in March; applications are being reviewed as planned
Status: Extended Deadline Original Deadline: March 31, 2020 New Deadline: July 7, 2020 |
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