State Council awards more than $ 800,000 in US bailout funds to arts organizations across the state

Sixty-three arts organizations in the state have received grants from the Alabama State Arts Council to cover their operating costs as they resume hosting exhibitions and in-person performances amid the pandemic of COVID-19.
In June, the Alabama State Council on the Arts announced its Alabama Arts Recovery Program, a grant program designed to provide arts organizations in the state with grants of $ 10,000, $ 15,000, $ 20,000 and 25,000. $ in financial support as they attempt to return to a semblance. normalcy after facing mandatory closings, reduced capacity, and far fewer in-person events in 2020.
On September 14, the council announced the recipients of these recovery program grants. The council has awarded a total of $ 814,100 to organizations in more than 25 cities across the state.
Here are the organizations that received the awards, ranked by grant amount:
$ 5,000:
Alabama Woodturners Association, Birmingham
Birmingham Boys Choir Foundation, Birmingham
Community Actors Studio Theater, Anniston
Huntsville Master Chorale, Huntsville
Jemison Carnegie Foundation, Talladega
MEOW Cares, Inc., Montgomery
Pride of Atmore, Atmore
Self Express Productions, Winfield
All the backstage theater, Guntersville
Gadsden Theater, Gadsden
Walker County Arts Alliance, Jasper
$ 6,600
Shelby County Arts Council, Columbiana
$ 7,500
Vinegar, Birmingham
$ 10,000
Azalea City Center for the Arts, Mobile
Carnegie Visual Arts Center, Decatur
CEPA Management Corp, Pell City
East Coast Art Association, Fairhope
Huntsville Community Choir Association, Huntsville
King’s Canvas Gallery and Studio, Montgomery
Birmingham Opera House, Birmingham
Patti Rutland Jazz DBA Alabama Dance Works, Dothan
Southeast Alabama Community Theater, Dothan
Steel City Men’s Choir, Birmingham
The Arts Association of Eastern Alabama, Opelika
Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Gallery, Wetumpka
Huntsville Theater, Huntsville
Troy-Pike Cultural Center of the Arts, Troy
Wetumpka depot players, Wetumpka
Winston County Arts Council, Arley
$ 15,000
Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Birmingham
Association of Alabama Orchestras, Huntsville
Andalusia Ballet Association, Andalusia
Community Ballet Association, Huntsville
Dance levels, Pinson
Dauphin Island Heritage and Arts Council, Dauphin Island
DRUM The Program, Montevallo
Encore Opera Theater, Toney
Kentuck Museum Association, Northport
Klein Arts & Culture, Harpersville
Merrimack Hall Performing Arts Center, Huntsville
Opera Mobile, Mobile
Princess Theater Center for the Performing Arts, Decatur
Actor’s Charity Theater, Tuscaloosa
Tri-State Community Orchestra, Dothan
Tuscaloosa Children’s Theater, Tuscaloosa
Tuskegee Repertory Theater, Tuskegee
Ursula Smith Dance, Birmingham
$ 20,000
Alabama Blues Project, Tuscaloosa
Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Mobile
Bib & Tucker Sew-Op, Birmingham
Black Belt Treasures, Camden
Desert Island Supply Co., Birmingham
Fantasy Playhouse Children’s Theater, Huntsville
Huntsville Community Drumline, Huntsville
Mobile Arts Council, Mobile
Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema, Birmingham
Space One Eleven, Birmingham
Studio by the slopes, Irondale
Tennessee Valley Art Association, Tuscumbia
Tuscaloosa Symphony Association, Tuscaloosa
Walnut Gallery, Gadsden
Wiregrass Blues Society, Dothan
The Alabama Arts Recovery Program is funded by federal dollars from the US bailout distributed by the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA received $ 135 million under the American Rescue Plan Act. In April, the NEA announced that it would direct 40% of those funds to 62 state, jurisdictional and regional arts organizations. The National Endowment for the Arts recommended that the Alabama State Council on the Arts receive an award of $ 814,100 during the first distribution of federal stimulus funds.
Funding for the Alabama Arts Recovery Program will begin October 1, and the organizations that received the awards must use the money by September 30, 2022. The Alabama State Council on the Arts has announced that it would distribute the grants in two installments: one in October, and a second after the completion of a progress report.
In order to qualify for the Alabama Arts Recovery Program, applicants had to be from 501 (c) 3 organizations located in Alabama, have an artistic orientation, and be able to list operating expenses that were split into five categories: personnel costs, installation costs, health supplies, safety, marketing / promotion, technology and equipment. Applicants were also required to provide a mission statement, operating budgets and the demographics of staff and employees.
In the September 14 press release, the State Council named five specific types of expenses that the Alabama Arts Recovery Program will support:
- Full-time and part-time salaries; contractual staff / artist fees related to general operations
- Installation costs
- Health safety supplies for staff and the public
- Promotion and marketing of artistic organizations reopening to the public
- Technology and equipment that support arts organizations
âThroughout the pandemic, the Council has supported Alabama’s arts and culture sector through our grants. As arts organizations statewide safely reopen and resume operations in person, we continue to support recovery through the Alabama Arts Recovery Program, âsaid Dr. Elliot Knight, Director executive of the Alabama State Council on the Arts in the same release. “These federal funds will support general operating and personnel costs, allowing organizations to continue to provide artistic opportunities and creative experiences to our citizens and communities.”