Tag: grants

Categories
Art Film/TV Music News News Blog Theater

ArtsMemphis Awards Nearly $1 Million in Grants

ArtsMemphis grants will help organizations and individual artists. (Photo: Jon W. Sparks).

ArtsMemphis has awarded $900,000 to 45 arts organizations for operating support and another $70,650 to 26 groups through the Arts Build Communities (ABC) grant program.

The operating support grants have long been central to ArtsMemphis’ mission of helping to grow a sustainable arts community. The unrestricted funding comes from local individuals, foundations and corporations, the Tennessee Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Organizations are assessed on their capacity to meet mission and goals, impact in the community, the level of their board’s engagement and support, financial need, and accountability.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the arts community hard. ArtsMemphis reports that grantees experienced a collective $24 million reduction in revenue, primarily earned income from ticket sales, classes, and workshops. It likely would have been worse if not for relief funding such as Payroll Protection Program, TN CAREs, and Shuttered Venue Operators Grants. ArtsMemphis estimates a 62 percent reduction in local and state government revenue generated by the arts.

Although arts groups added virtual and outdoor and socially distanced events, community participation in such events is down 41 percent.

ArtsMemphis says that data shows a 53 percent reduction in staffing, most of which is contract staff. ArtsMemphis will reopen its Artist Emergency Fund on Monday, September 27th for another round of funding for individual artists in Shelby County across arts disciplines. This new round brings ArtsMemphis’ Artist Emergency Fund total distribution to $640,000 since the onset of the pandemic.

A list of the operating support recipients is here.

The ABC program is done in partnership with the Tennessee Arts Commission, and directly supports arts projects that broaden access to arts experiences and aid in the sustainability of the organizations.

The ABC recipients can be found here.

ArtsMemphis has also named Julie Wiklund as its new Chief Financial Officer. In addition, Kathy Gale Uhlhorn is now chair of the Board of Directors, and Dr. Russ Wigginton, president & CEO of the National Civil Rights Museum, is Vice Chair. Kera Wright, senior vice president of finance for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is the newest member of the board.

Categories
News News Blog

NBA Foundation Grants Aid Local Nonprofits

Students practice coding in a CodeCrew class. (Photo courtesy of CodeCrew)

The NBA Foundation has announced a total of more than $3 million in grants aimed at creating employment opportunities, furthering career advancement, and driving greater economic empowerment in Black communities.

Two of the nine organizations chosen to receive grants are based in Memphis — CodeCrew and The Collective Blueprint.

CodeCrew, founded by Nnaemeka Egwuekwe in 2015, educates and mentors Black students and professionals who are underrepresented in tech to become tech innovators and leaders through practical hands-on computer science training.

Egwuekwe said the grant would be used to provide support to a program for young adults training to be entry-level software developers. In the nine-month comprehensive course, students work in a small classroom and use real-world technologies to learn the fundamentals of coding and system development. The students, who receive a stipend, also get leadership training.

The Collective Blueprint, which partners with CodeCrew, has similar programs for young adults such as assisting with credential attainment in in-demand career fields including IT, healthcare, and the skilled trades. The nonprofit initiative was started in 2016.

Categories
News News Blog

ArtsMemphis Gives Another Round of Operating Support Grants

ArtsMemphis has announced its second round of fiscal year 2021 operating support grants – for a total of $850,000 – benefitting 48 local arts organizations.

Funding evaluation criteria includes: grantee narrative reports surrounding organizations’ COVID-19 responses and commitments to advancing racial equity and inclusion; financials from 2019 and 2020 coupled with 2021 projections; and staffing data, including total artist engagement.

As the Mid-South’s primary arts funder, ArtsMemphis invested $2.8 million in 71 arts groups and 137 artists in 2020. During the COVID pandemic, the organization elevated its role as convener and connector for the arts sector by helping arts organizations maintain or rework business plans, create virtual arts events, and develop reopening protocols.

“We recognize that unrestricted operating support is necessary to shape a dynamic and sustainable arts community,” said ArtsMemphis president & CEO Elizabeth Rouse. “In addition to the COVID-prompted Artist Emergency Fund, we continue to prioritize our cornerstone operating support grant initiative, which is made possible each year by our corporate, foundation, and individual donors.”

Of the 48 awarded organizations, 41 percent are led by a person of color, and 77 percent are serving majority people of color participants.

“We are establishing equitable practices through not only the size, history, or genre of our awarded grantees — we are also covering a higher percentage of smaller organizations’ operating budgets, especially since their access to additional relief funds during COVID, such as PPP, has been limited,” said Rouse. “We felt this financial relief should be an immediate priority.”

Prior to the pandemic, 20 percent of ArtsMemphis’ grantees’ budgets were related to 1,300 staff. Arts organizations have reported an 80 percent reduction in the number of artists engaged in 2020 versus 2019, resulting in 8,570 artist engagements lost. Layoffs or furloughs were reported by 53 percent of arts organizations, impacting 560 positions, or 44 percent of the arts sector workforce.

The grantees are:

  1. AngelStreet
  2. Arrow Creative
  3. Ballet Memphis
  4. Ballet on Wheels Dance School & Company
  5. Beale Street Caravan
  6. Blues City Cultural Center
  7. Carpenter Art Garden
  8. Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group
  9. Children’s Ballet Theatre
  10. Circuit Playhouse, Inc.
  11. Collage Dance Collective
  12. Creative Aging Memphis
  13. Germantown Community Theatre
  14. GPAC
  15. Harmonic South String Orchestra
  16. Hattiloo Theatre
  17. Indie Memphis
  18. IRIS Orchestra
  19. Levitt Shell
  20. Memphis Black Arts Alliance, Inc.
  21. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
  22. Memphis Jazz Workshop
  23. Memphis Music Initiative
  24. Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul, Inc.
  25. Memphis Slim Collaboratory
  26. Memphis Symphony Orchestra
  27. Memphis Youth Symphony Program
  28. Metal Museum, Inc.
  29. Music Export Memphis
  30. New Ballet Ensemble & School
  31. New Day Children’s Theatre
  32. On Location: Memphis
  33. Opera Memphis, Inc.
  34. Orpheum Theatre Group
  35. Perfecting Gifts Incorporated
  36. Playback Memphis
  37. PRIZM Ensemble
  38. RiverArtsFest, Inc.
  39. Soulsville Foundation
  40. SubRoy Movement
  41. Tennessee Shakespeare Company
  42. The Blues Foundation
  43. The CLTV (Collective)
  44. Theatre Memphis
  45. Theatreworks
  46. UrbanArt Commission
  47. Young Actors Guild
  48. Youth Artist Development Academy

Categories
News News Blog

United Housing Awarded $50,000 from Bank of America

Amy Schaftlein, executive director for United Housing, holds their award

Through Bank of America’s Neighborhood Champion program, United Housing has received a grant for $50,000 as well as an opportunity for its staff to undergo virtual leadership training. The Neighborhood Champion program gives recognition to nonprofits that play a role in advancing economic mobility. Due to the program, Bank of America is the largest corporate philanthropic investment in nonprofit leadership in the country. Bank of America Memphis Market President, Livingston Albritten, released a statement.

“As we consider many of the challenges that our communities are facing – from the health and humanitarian crisis brought on by the coronavirus to the need for progress on racial equality and economic opportunity – the Neighborhood Champions program is a relevant and timely initiative to support the communities we serve,” said Albritten. “This program enables partners like United Housing to plan strategically for growth and long-term sustainability, and we look forward to seeing how this investment helps United Housing make even greater strides to address homebuyer education and assistance in the Memphis area.”

 United Housing is known throughout the city for helping Memphians through the homeownership process. United housing is nationally recognized for its efforts in providing curriculum, homebuilding, and neighborhood revitalization and rehabilitation. Using a holistic approach the non-profit accurately helps Memphians on a case by case basis. Amy Schaftlein, executive director for United Housing, said that being chosen doesn’t distract them from their mission on hand.

“Our goal will be to keep people safely housed and working on preserving homeownership and neighborhood stability next year, which will be critical for many families,” said Schaftlein. “We are humbled to be recognized by Bank of America for this mission and we are eager to get to work meeting essential housing needs in Memphis.”

United Housing will use funds from the grant to provide further education and revitalization to members and member neighborhoods in their organization.

“Funds from the grant will support United Housing’s homebuyer education and minor home repair programs as the economic impacts of the pandemic have increased demand for these critical services,” said Schaftlein. “This opportunity will allow the organization to expand mortgage and rental assistance counseling services, while expanding the ability for aspiring homebuyers to get closer to their goals in uncertain economic environment.”