“As New York City’s arts and culture sector seeks to rebound from the economic devastation wrought by the pandemic, the Department of Cultural Affairs announced on Thursday that it would award $51.4 million in grants to more than 1,000 nonprofit arts organizations,” writes Matt Stevens in Thursday’s (12/9) New York Times. “The grants, for the 2022 fiscal year, represent the largest-ever allocation for what is known as the Cultural Development Fund. Some … grants will broadly increase funding for organizations that need a financial shot in the arm; other grants will offer more targeted support of disability arts, language access, arts education and more…. A chunk of the money … is being sent to more than 650 groups working in underserved communities that were hard hit by the pandemic…. A survey of the effects of the coronavirus commissioned by the Department of Cultural Affairs … found that … smaller organizations in particular were some of the hardest hit…. Some of the grants … have been awarded to small theater companies, choirs and museums….. The Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the 92nd Street Y are among the organizations that will receive some of the largest grants.”
