The National Endowment for the Arts grants funding to 567 arts organizations to save jobs and to fund operations and facilities, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional efforts
Wilmington, Del. (February 2, 2022) – At the end of January, four Delaware arts organizations – Art Works for All, Inc., The Delaware Contemporary, Delaware Shakespeare, and Wilmington Children’s Chorus – received either $50,000 or $100,000 American Rescue Plan (ARP) grants directly from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). These four organizations are among 567 arts organizations nationwide – located in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC – that will receive a total of $57.75 million in nonmatching funds to save jobs and to fund operations and facilities, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional efforts to encourage attendance and participation.
“Our nation’s arts sector has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Endowment for the Arts’ American Rescue Plan funding will help arts organizations rebuild and reopen,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA. “The arts are crucial to helping America’s communities heal, unite, and inspire as well as essential to our nation’s economic recovery.”
The NEA received more than 7,500 eligible applications requesting $695 million. To review applications, the agency employed more than 450 expert readers and panelists to review and score each application using the published review criteria.
The ARP grant awardees represent the diverse nature of arts organizations around the country, serving both rural and urban communities and representing all 15 of the NEA’s artistic disciplines. Seventy-eight percent of the awardees are small or medium sized organizations with budgets of less than $2 million and 27 percent are first-time NEA grantees due to the NEA’s active encouragement of applications from a variety of organizations for this opportunity while providing numerous resources for navigating the application process.
The ARP was signed into law in March 2021 and included $135 million to the NEA for the arts sector. This is the third installment of ARP funding. In April 2021, the NEA announced $52 million (40 percent) in ARP funding will be allocated to 62 state, jurisdictional, and regional arts organizations for subgranting through their respective programs. With this special award, the Delaware Division of the Arts developed two short-term grant opportunities to help secure jobs and support Delaware’s nonprofit arts organizations and artists that add value to the state’s economy and bolster the creative life of our communities. The Delaware Division of the Arts awarded ARP funds to 36 arts organizations and 13 individual artists.
About the National Endowment for the Arts
Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the Arts Endowment supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit arts.gov to learn more.
Image Credit: Delaware Shakespeare’s performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream taken by Alessandra Nicole
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Contact: Kaitlin Ammon, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications
302-577-8280, kaitlin.ammon@delaware.gov
The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.