City Coronavirus Funds Provide Relief To Phoenix Artists & Arts And Culture Organizations

Press release from the City of Phoenix:

July 24, 2020

The City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture announced emergency relief grants to 68 nonprofit arts and culture organizations and 272 individual artists as part of the city's Coronavirus Relief Fund. The federal government allocated $293 million to the City of Phoenix and during its May 12, 2020 meeting, the City Council approved allocating $2.6 million for an Arts and Culture Coronavirus Relief Program.

Of that $2.6 million, $1,885,000 was designated for grants to nonprofit arts and culture organizations and $700,000 to artists negatively impacted financially because of the global health emergency. The remaining $15,000 will be used to contract consultants and facilitators to conduct workshops, webinars, and resources that would help nonprofit arts and culture organizations and individual artists navigate their financial futures moving forward into the new normal.

“Nationally, to date, the nonprofit arts and culture sector has had $9.1 billion in losses. In Phoenix, arts and culture organizations are forecasting losses between $10,000 and over $1 million from March 1 through the summer with the majority having to implement a reduction in staffing with furloughs, layoffs, and canceled artists contracts" said Mitch Menchaca, executive director of the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture. “These funds will help artists who lost income due to canceled events or terminated contracts because of the pandemic. Grant funding will also help Phoenix's arts and culture organizations retain staff and have the opportunity to plan for the future."

The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture has an equity strategy that aims to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented marginalized groups' full participation from the agency's programs and to strengthen equity, diversity, and inclusion in the arts and culture sector for all Phoenix residents. The 68 funded organizations represent all artistic disciplines, budget sizes, and City Council districts.

Full List of Organizational Grantees

The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture was one of nine local arts agencies across the country awarded an additional $250,000 in CARES Act funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Nine to regrant to arts organizations for job preservation this fall. In addition, the Office of Arts and Culture will open a second round of artist support. Both applications will be available in late summer. Learn more at www.phoenix.gov/arts.

This press release was produced by the City of Phoenix. The views expressed here are the author’s own.