From top: Kristian Brevik , Bira Venara , and Mary Zompetti.

Brett Stanciu is writing a nonfiction narrative about heroin addiction in a small town in Vermont. Evan Premo is creating a musical composition based on Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina. And Carol Potter is developing a book of poems entitled The Good Math . These are three of the fifteen artists whose work will be supported by FY2020 Creation Grants from the Vermont Arts Council. This $4,000 award can be used to provide funds needed to spend more time in the studio, purchase materials, or rent rehearsal space.

Thanks to the generous contributions of Arts Council donors, an additional five grants were awarded in the FY2020 round. "The depth and breadth of artistic talent in Vermont is awe-inspiring," noted Executive Director Karen Mittelman. "We are pleased that this year we were able to increase by fifty percent our support of a wide range of creative endeavors in our state."

	Stone Valley Arts in Poultney received an FY2020 Cultural Facilities Grant to support electrical upgrades. Photo by George Bouret.

Some of Vermont's most beloved cultural institutions will get a boost this year thanks to funding from the Vermont Arts Council's Cultural Facilities Grant program. From electrical upgrades to accessible elevators, needed improvements in existing buildings facilitate better access, enhance infrastructure, and expand capacity. Grants were awarded to sixteen organizations totaling $224,556.

"The Cultural Facilities grant program is a critical investment in the long-term health and sustainability of arts and culture in Vermont," said Vermont Arts Council Executive Director Karen Mittelman. "Over the past five years, seventy percent of the funding from this program has supported cultural facilities in Vermont's most rural communities, protecting the libraries, theaters, museums, and town halls that serve our most economically disadvantaged residents."

The Cultural Facilities Grant program is administered by the Arts Council in conjunction with the Vermont Historical Society and the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. The program is funded through an annual appropriation in the Vermont state capital budget.

See a full list of Cultural Facilities Grant recipients.

  Artists in Schools Grants are available to public or private schools that are recognized by the Vermont Department of Education. These grants fund artist residencies that are intended to serve as a model for the integration of the arts across the PreK-12 curriculum. Artists must be selected from the Arts Council's Teaching Artist Roster. The grant application process opens on August 12. Learn more about the Artists in Schools Grant program.

Read the NEFA announcement.