April 6, 2020
Dear friends in Vermont’s arts community,
I hope this finds you well, and finding moments of inspiration and beauty, despite our worlds being turned inside out. All of us at the Vermont Arts Council are committed to supporting our artists and cultural organizations through this uncertain and troubling time. We need the arts now more than ever, to inspire and connect us, and to enable us to support each other with creativity and compassion.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents particular challenges for the arts and culture sector. We are working with federal and state partners to share information and to respond effectively to the needs in our field. I’m sharing a quick update, below. Please take care, stay in touch and let us know how we can help you!
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Karen Mittelman
Executive Director, Vermont Arts Council
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COVID-19 relief for artists and organizations:
For artists, freelance creatives, and cultural organizations, our
COVID-19 web site
has information, funding opportunities and additional resources to guide you.
Vermont Rapid Response Artist Relief
provides grants up to $500 to artists who have lost income due to the loss of a job or cancellation of a scheduled gig or opportunity (e.g., commissions, performances, contracts, workshops, classes, etc.) because of COVID-19.
In one week, we received more than 175 requests for emergency relief funding from artists across Vermont. Applications are temporarily closed, so that Council staff can process requests, ramp up fundraising efforts, and assess the rapidly-changing needs in the field. We will be distributing $57,500 in grants in the coming weeks, with plans for more as funding allows. Please check back in mid-April!
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Federal relief is on the way.
As most of you have heard, the CARES Act recently passed in Congress includes $75 million each for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. For the arts, we know that a portion of those funds will be available to nonprofit arts organizations directly from NEA, with guidelines being drafted now.
Vermont’s nonprofit arts and culture sector will also receive approximately $400,000 from the NEA, which will be distributed through the Arts Council. These funds are specifically
intended to help nonprofit arts organizations across the country survive the forced closure of their operations in response to the spread of COVID-19.
As soon as we have more information from NEA about how we can distribute those funds, we will post updates.
Regular Arts Council grant programs are on!
We have extended the deadlines of some of our grant programs, but have decided to keep others as is, in order to avoid delays in getting much-needed funding to the field.
For complete information, please visit this page on
COVID-19 and Vermont Arts Council grantmaking
.
Here’s a quick summary:
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Status
: Continuing as planned
Original Deadline
:
May 4, 2020
New Deadline
:
S
ame
Status
: Expanded eligibility to allow for general operating grants
Original Deadline
:
May 1, 2020
New Deadline
: June 1, 2020
Status
: Continuing as planned
Original Deadline
: May 15
New Deadline
: Same
Status
: Continuing as planned
Original Deadline
: April 13
New Deadline
: Same
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Status
: Extended deadline
Original Deadline
: May 1, 2020
New Deadline
: July 27, 2020
Status
: Closed in March; applications are being reviewed as planned
Status
: Extended Deadline
Original Deadline
: March 31, 2020
New Deadline
: July 7, 2020
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Please take the COVID-19 Impact Survey – help us to make the case for support for the arts!
Thank you to all who have filled out the
Americans for the Arts COVID-19 Impact Survey
. It helps us to understand and document the impact of the pandemic on artists, creative businesses and nonprofits in Vermont and across the nation.
Stretching and storytelling while social distancing?
Vermont’s art galleries, museums, and theaters may be closed, but they are finding imaginative ways to keep the channels of creativity open for all of us.
This week, I’m inspired by the Vermont Folklife Center’s
Listening in Place
project, where Vermonters can gather in virtual Story Circles to listen and share; and the
New England Center for Circus Arts’
online classes for aspiring trapeze artists and others interested in flexibility, balance, and stretching while at home.
Watch for an interview with poet laureate Mary Ruefle in this month’s ArtMail, reflecting on how isolation affects her creative practice.
Subscribe to our newsletters here
.
Have a creative, artsy response to COVID-19 you’d like to share?
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