The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded nearly $30 million to state, regional and territorial arts agencies across the country from CARES Act funds.
The grants include $454,100 to the Kentucky Arts Council and $473,900 to the Indiana Arts Commission, according to the NEA. Additionally, the regional organization South Arts, with Kentucky a member, will receive $784,200 and Arts Midwest, which includes Indiana, will receive $757,100.
Congress required the NEA to distribute 40% of the $75 million the federal arts agency received under the CARES Act to state and territorial arts agencies, as well as to regional arts organizations. The NEA release said this money will be redistributed to arts groups in the agencies’ corresponding communities, “to preserve jobs and facilities costs.”
“We are doing what we can to help save as many jobs as possible, as quickly as possible,” Mary Anne Carter, chair of the NEA, said in a release.
Each arts agency will determine its own process for distributing the funds.
The NEA said it's used the same funding formula for this 40% of its CARES Act funds as they do every year when determining how much to distribute to state, regional and territorial arts agencies.
Three-quarters of that 40% is doled out like this, according to the federal agency: “Each state begins with a base amount of $200,000, then, any state with a population greater than 200,000 shares equally in the remainder.”
That final quarter is “awarded based upon Arts Endowment policy (also as provided in the Congressional mandate) with additional funding to the states and territories based upon population, and to the regional arts organizations and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.”
The remainder of the funding will be made as direct grants to arts organizations by June 30, according to the NEA.
The NEA is accepting applications from arts and culture organizations for direct grants that would assist with payroll support, facilities expenses and fees due to contractual workers and artists. To be eligible, an organization must have received a NEA award in the past four years. The application deadline is April 22.
