Rome Shakespeare Festival and RIFF win coronavirus relief grants

Rome Shakespeare Festival and RIFF — the Rome International Film Festival — are among the 63 arts organizations awarded grants under the federal CARES Act.

The Georgia Council for the Arts, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, will distribute the coronavirus relief aid.

The Calhoun Gordon Arts Council in Calhoun and Back Alley Productions Inc. in Walker County also won one of the competitive “resiliency” grants.

“Georgia arts organizations are an economic engine, and a collective of visionary leadership that has brought us together as one community, to heal, remember, confront challenges, and triumphantly celebrate joy. They comprise an industry devastated by COVID-19 and are worth supporting and fighting for,” said GCA Executive Director Karen Paty.

The National Endowment for the Arts passed along 40% of the agency’s CARES Act funds, nearly $30 million, to state, territorial and regional arts agencies to ensure a wide distribution. Georgia received $507,900 of that amount, plus another $60,000 from South Arts to support rural or culturally specific organizations.

The winners were chosen from among 171 applicants.

Selections were determined by peer review panels, which included fellow professionals in the specific arts discipline and Georgia citizens with a record of involvement in arts activities.

The GCA did not release the amount of each grant.