Special to 1812Blockhouse
The Renaissance Theatre has announced that it has been approved to receive an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic.
The Renaissance is recommended to receive $50,000 in 2022, with an additional amount of $50,000 in 2023. This funding is intended to save jobs and to fund operations and facilities, and will be used by the Renaissance to purchase health and safety supplies, pay artist fees, and assist with the cost of utilities for the historic Renaissance Theatre. In total, the NEA will award grants totaling $57,750,000 to 567 arts organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC.
“Our nation’s arts sector has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Endowment for the Arts’ American Rescue Plan funding will help arts organizations, such as Renaissance Theatre, rebuild and reopen,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA. “The arts are crucial in helping America’s communities heal, unite, and inspire, as well as essential to our nation’s economic recovery.”
“This funding is going to be crucial to helping us continue to serve our community during what has been a very tough few years for everyone,” said Renaissance President, Chelsie Thompson. “We’ve been largely shuttered for nearly two years now, and even after reopening, our earned revenue is still only 40% of our 2019 numbers with a long recovery ahead of us as we dig our way out of this pandemic. We’re grateful for the opportunity that this funding brings to keep our doors open and our artists working to provide the human connections that our community needs right now.”
The funding provided by the grant will allow the Renaissance to continue providing arts and culture for Richland County, supporting programming such as live theatre, the Mansfield Symphony, and educational programming for students and families in addition to offsetting operational costs.
The American Rescue Plan was signed into law in March 2021 when the NEA was provided $135 million for the arts sector. The funding for organizations is the third installment providing more than $57.7 million for arts organizations. In April 2021, the NEA announced $52 million (40 percent) in ARP funding would be allocated to 62 state, jurisdictional, and regional arts organizations for regranting through their respective programs. The second installment in November 2021 allocated $20.2 million to 66 local arts agencies for subgranting to local artists and art organizations.
For more information on the NEA’s American Rescue Plan grants, including the full list of arts organizations funded in this announcement, visit www.arts.gov/COVID-19/the-american-rescue-plan.
Source, Photo: Renaissance Performing Arts Association
