NEA Allots $57M to 567 Arts Organizations Hit By COVID-19

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced Thursday, January 27 that it will distribute a total of $57,750,000 to 567 arts organizations across all 50 states and American territories in the third installment of grants from the 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP).

Passed by Senate Democrats last March, the Joe Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion COVID stimulus bill included a total of $470 million in relief to arts and cultural organizations. Of those funds, $270 million were divided equally between the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). In 2021, the NEA distributed $72.2 million (more than 50% of the funds) over two phases to more than 120 arts organizations across the country. But the demand has been much higher, the agency said, reporting that it has received more than 7,500 eligible applications requesting a total of $695 million.

Grants in this latest installment range from $50,000 to $150,000. Recipient organizations may use them to pay for staff salaries, cover operational costs, or fund marketing and promotional efforts to encourage attendance and participation.

In New York, arts organizations slated for a $100,000 grant include the Bronx Children’s Museum, the Asian American Arts Alliance, Brooklyn Arts Council, and UnionDocs. The Queens Museum of Art, New Museum, Museum Hue, and Seneca Nation of Indians will each receive $150,000. Across the country, other recommended grantees include the Baltimore Museum of Art ($150,000); The New Orleans Museum of Art ($50,000); and the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio ($150,000). The full list of recommended grants in all states and locales can be found here.

“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,” Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA, said in a statement. “The arts are crucial to helping America’s communities heal, unite, and inspire as well as essential to our nation’s economic recovery.”