National Endowment for the Arts Announces Grants to Support the Arts and Innovation Across the Country
Vermont Organizations to Receive Nearly $1 Million
MONTPELIER, VT—Nine Vermont organizations will receive grants totaling $972,800 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) through its second round of funding announced Wednesday for FY2020
"We are proud that the NEA awards recognize Vermont's outstanding and diverse arts landscape," said Vermont Arts Council Executive Director Karen Mittelman. "These federal grants will support some of Vermont's major cultural organizations, across a wide range of disciplines, from theater and opera to arts education and folk art traditions. Vermont is so fortunate to have champions in Congress - Senator Leahy, Senator Sanders, and Representative Welch - whose strong support of the arts is especially vital in these challenging times."
In addition to the grants awarded to Vermont arts organizations, a grant of $765,300 to the Vermont Arts Council will support arts programs, services and activities throughout Vermont. The NEA works in partnership with the state Arts Council to ensure that Vermonters have access to the arts.
As a part of NEA’s regular grantmaking in separate grants unrelated to CARES Act funding, over $84 million for 1,143 new awards was given to organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and each of the five U.S. territories. Applications for the recommended grants were submitted to the NEA last summer. Grants are awarded in 13 artistic disciplines, arts research, and partnership agreements with all U.S. state and regional arts agencies.
Art Works is the NEA’s largest grant category and focuses on funding the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with art, lifelong learning in the arts, and strengthening of communities through the arts. Vermont’s recipients are:
Community Engagement Lab, Montpelier, $55,000
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts (on behalf of Burlington Discover Jazz Festival), $37,500
Shelburne Museum, $20,000
Stowe Story Labs, $20,000
Dorset Theatre Festival, Dorset, $15,000
New Music on the Point, NMOP, Brandon, $10,000
Opera Company of Middlebury, $10,000
The Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury received an NEA partnership award of $40,000.
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About the National Endowment for the Arts
Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA 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 NEA 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. For more information, visit
www.arts.gov.
About the Vermont Arts Council
The Vermont Arts Counci
l envisions a Vermont where all people have access to the arts and creativity in their lives, education, and communities. Engagement with the arts transforms individuals, connects us more deeply to each other, energizes the economy, and sustains the vibrant cultural landscape that makes Vermont a great place to live. Since 1965, the Council has been the state's primary provider of funding, advocacy, and information for the arts in Vermont. Learn more at
vermontartscouncil.org
