On January 27, the National Endowment for the Arts announced the 567 recipients of $57.75 million in direct grants awarded through the final installment of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding designated by Congress to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. ARP awards support employment, operations and facilities costs, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional expenses. Direct grants included a total of $2,550,000 to 24 orchestras. The League of American Orchestras has posted a list of the 24 orchestras that received American Rescue Plan direct grants, plus eight related orchestral awards. The full list of recommended awards, sorted by city/state, is available here.
The NEA received more than 7,500 applications requesting nearly $700 million in support. Among the recommended awards, 27 percent are first-time NEA grantees and 78 percent are organizations with budgets of less than $2 million. These direct grants to organizations follow two rounds of ARP funds administered by the NEA to states, regions, and localities to support local grantmaking. The NEA is accepting applications for its annual major grant category, Grants for Arts Projects (Part 1); the deadline is February 10, 2022. Applications for the NEA’s Challenge America grants will be due April 21, 2022. Orchestra are encouraged to review the League’s grant tips before applying.
