State arts groups to split $9M in relief
Funds aimed at making a difference in ‘survival’ during virus pandemic
More than 150 state arts groups will share $9 million in grant money from the COVID Relief Fund for the Arts, the Connecticut Office of the Arts has announced. The fund distributes federal money given to Connecticut in the CARE Act.
Individual grants range from $5,000 (for the American Baroque Orchestra in North Haven) to $551,400 for New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre. Hartford Stage received the second highest amount, $542,200, while Goodspeed Musicals in East Haddam got $532,100. Hartford’s multi-faceted Real Art Ways cinema/gallery got $153,700. TheaterWorks Hartford, which has been producing a full online season of at least one show a month since the summer, received $264,900.
The grants go to organizations of all sizes, throughout the state. They are intended for nonprofit arts organizations including “performing arts centers, schools of the arts, or performing groups for whomgrants will make a difference in terms of survival or rehiring,” as well as those who “have had to curtail operations for a period of time due to the COVID19 pandemic and which have had limited ability to reopen due to pandemic restrictions or have had to pivot their service delivery due to pandemic restrictions.”
Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement that “Connecticut’s arts community provides an incredible amount of good for our state and supports thousands of jobs. Like nearly every segment of our communities, many nonprofit arts organizations are struggling to recover from its impact. These grants will provide some needed support so that these groups can continue providing the services in our state that on which many depend.”
The Relief Fund for the Arts uses federal CARES Act money from the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. Qualified applicants were eligible for a base grant of $5,000. In addition, the state offered matching grants amounting to 50% of what an organization raised in donations and other fundraising efforts between March 10 (when arts venues began to close due to COVID) and Nov. 1. The grants therefore provide a sense of how well some groups have done with fundraising during the shutdown.
Most of the organizations have attempted to stay productive despite state restrictions on gatherings and indoor events. Some have been able to produce online events, and some (such as Curtain Call in Stamford, which received ($81,300 from the COVID Fund) have even done live shows outdoors. Ridgefield’s ACT of Connecticut, which specializes in musicals, was one of only around a dozen theaters in the country that was granted permission by the Actors Equity union to produce an indoor show this fall. ACTreceived $11,700. Many of the organizations have been unable to produce any shows since March, and have canceled or postponed their entire planned seasons. There are the additional strains of rent, salaries and events that had already been heavily invested in prior to the pandemic.