nea – Memphis Flyer

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has chosen ArtsMemphis as one of nine local arts agencies nationwide to receive $250,000 in CARES Act funding. Separately, the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis (CFGM) selected ArtsMemphis to receive a $200,000 capacity building grant from the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund.

Both grants will help the nonprofit arts community combat the financial implications of COVID-19.

In addition to the CARES Act grant to ArtsMemphis, the NEA announced grants of $50,000 each to four Memphis arts organizations: Blues City Cultural Center, Hattiloo Theatre, Indie Memphis, and Opera Memphis.

The NEA recommended grants for direct funding through the CARES Act to 855 organizations across the country. ArtsMemphis and eight other local arts agencies were selected to receive a larger grant of $250,000, joining Boston, Chicago, Lafayette, Colo., Phoenix, Reno, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and Tucson. The remaining 846 organizations will receive grants of $50,000.

The CFGM grant is part of a larger block of funding from the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund intended to address community needs, and to provide a wider safety net for the forward progress of the arts sector. “We will redirect these funds as unrestricted support to nonprofit arts organizations in Memphis and Shelby County,” says ArtsMemphis president and CEO Elizabeth Rouse.

A survey of more than 250 Shelby County artists and organizations conducted by ArtsMemphis indicated a total anticipated loss of income across the arts sector of $7.4 million through June 30, 2020. Nationally, according to data released by Americans for the Arts (AFTA) of 17,000 arts organizations surveyed, projected losses through June 30th at $8.4 billion.

This is the second distribution of funds received by ArtsMemphis from CFGM’s Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund since the pandemic forced arts organizations to close on March 16th. ArtsMemphis established the Artist Emergency Fund (AEF) in partnership with Music Export Memphis (MEM) and together they distributed $308,000 to 443 individuals in the Mid-South arts sector.

It’s a tough time for the arts. With performance venues shuttered by COVID-19 and the associated economic downturn hurting donations, arts nonprofits are struggling to make ends meet. Four Memphis arts organizations got some welcome relief this week when they learned they have been selected to receive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

All four grants were awarded through the Art Works program. The New Ballet Ensemble was selected for a $40,000 Arts Education grant. Opera Memphis will receive a $25,000 grant. In the theater category, Hattiloo Theatre was chosen for a $25,000 grant. And Indie Memphis will receive its first-ever NEA Media Arts grant worth $20,000.

In total, 18 grants worth $1.2 million will go to arts organizations in Tennessee. The largest is the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, which is slated for a $75,000 Our Town grant for design. The Dogwood Arts Festival and the Big Ears experimental music festival in Knoxville were also chosen. Among the 10 organizations in Nashville chosen for grants are the Nashville Children’s Theatre, the Nashville Symphony, and Vanderbilt University. By far the largest grant this funding cycle went to the Tennessee Arts Commission, which received $846,100 as part of the State and Regional Partnerships program.

In all, more than $84 million in competitive grants were awarded across all U.S. states and territories. The NEA is also supplying technical support for these organizations to help them adapt their programming to help stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.