August 2020
Vermont Arts Council Opportunities
Call for Applications: Artist Development Grant
The Vermont Arts Council is now accepting applications for its next round of Artist Development Grants.

Artist Development Grants support artists at all stages of their careers. Grants can fund activities that enhance mastery of an artist’s craft or skills and activities that increase the viability of an artist's business. New this year: Grants can also support teaching artists in developing the skills necessary to provide instruction in K-12 schools remotely during the COVID-19 crisis.

For examples of previously funded projects, visit our list of recent grantees and read our press release about the nine new recipients from the recent round of grant awards.

Deadline: September 28, 2020

Artists in Schools, Virtually Too
A playwright helps an English teacher to mentor writing students. A dancer and a math teacher collaborate to illustrate spatial relationships through movement. A composer works with a music teacher to help students compose and perform original works of music. These are artists in schools.

The Arts Council's "Artists in Schools" program is now open for applications. The grant funds short-term artist residencies in classrooms or through remote learning with teachers from our Teaching Artist Roster. Residencies may be funded for up to ten days and are intended to serve as a model for the integration of the arts across the PreK-12 curriculum. Artists are expected to collaborate with classroom teachers to ensure that the residency meets student learning objectives and that there is a sustainable impact on the school community.

Council Resource Central: Grants and More
Visit the Council's Covid-19 and Vermont Arts Council Grantmaking web page for updates on the Council's grant programs.

Are you an artist seeking Covid-19 grants and resources? Visit the Council's Resources for Artists web page.

Are you part of an organization seeking Covid-19 grants and resources. Visit the Council's Resources for Organizations web page.

In addition, our Knowledge Center has business and legal resources, information on insurance and disaster preparedness as well as other sources of funding, including those for specific disciplines, i.e., visual artists, craftspeople, writers, musicians, and filmmakers.
The Creative Sector Reopening and Recovery Guide
What is the best way to handle traffic flow at a museum? Should I keep a record of concert attendees' contact information? Are there times when it's ok for theater performers to not wear a mask? For guidance on these and other questions, be sure to check out our Reopening and Recovery Guide, created by the Arts Council, the Vermont Creative Network, and the Vermont Creative Sector Response and Recovery Team.

The guide is meant to serve as a resource for arts and cultural organizations in Vermont as they make decisions about operations and programming during Covid-19. A dynamic document, the Guide undergoes updates as circumstances change.

If you've found a creative way to adapt during the Covid-19 crisis, we'd like to hear about it. Be in touch!
Covid-19 and Vermont Arts Council: By the Numbers
Vermont’s creative sector lost over 8,000 jobs and sales of over $216 million during the months of April to July of this year as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, according to a report recently issued by The Brookings Institution. The Council continues to advocate at the state and federal level for relief and recovery funding.

Artists. The Council has awarded more than $175,000 in relief grants to 434 artists since the Covid-19 crisis. Funding was issued through the Council's Rapid Response Artist Relief Fund and a special round of Artist Development Grants.

Organizations. Through the Covid-19 Cultural Relief Grant Program, administered in partnership with Vermont Humanities, 123 arts and culture organizations have received more than $780,000 in relief funds. In addition, Covid-19 Response Grants of $10,000 were awarded to the Clemmons Family Farm and $5,000 to the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association to provide emergency relief grants to artists in their networks.

Support for the Cultural Relief Grant Program comes from CARES Act funds distributed through the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the Vermont Community Foundation, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the state of Vermont, and private donors.

In July, the $96 million relief package for Vermont businesses passed by the Vermont Legislature and signed by the Governor included $5 million to the to the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) to distribute to the Vermont Arts Council for grants to the nonprofit arts and culture sector.

Donate. Please donate to help the arts survive and thrive. We have three ways to give on our donation page.
National Opportunities
NEFA has announced a new grant opportunity, New Work New England, to support artists and projects that further equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. Grants of $7,500-$10,000 will be awarded to New England artists in a wide variety of disciplines. Apply for a New Work New England grant by September 3.
A national podcast about life during the pandemic invites artists to reply to 4 questions by Sept. 15 for a special episode:
  • What impact has this pandemic had on your life?
  • What role is your art playing for you during this time? 
  • What influence is the pandemic having on your art?
  • What are you missing the most?
Email an audio recording of your answers to
ksemro@gmail.com, or call 847-354-4163 and leave them as a voicemail.
The New York Foundation for the Arts and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation's Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants provide grants of up to $5,000 for unexpected medical/dental/mental health emergencies to visual and media artists and choreographers. The July/August application cycle closes Monday, August 31. Apply for a Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grant today.
Awards: Congratulations to Our Recent Grantees
Creation Grants

Artistic excellence is the most important criteria in evaluating an application for this highly competitive award. Among this year’s winning proposals are works that span visual arts, literary arts, dance, music, circus arts, and multidisciplinary fields, including a poetry collection about growing up as a Korean American adoptee in rural Vermont; a solo dance show integrating aerial work and nonbinary, disabled identity; and several works that explore climate change. Find out about this year's Creation Grant recipients.
Arts Partners

Arts Partnership awards provide three years of unrestricted, general operating funds for arts organizations across Vermont who keenly understand the needs of their communities and address those needs through the arts. Awarded only once every three years, the Arts Partnership award represents the largest investment in organizations that are helping to support the Council’s mission to cultivate and advance the arts and creativity throughout Vermont.
Find out about the new Arts Partners grantees.

Animating Infrastructure Awards

These projects will help create unique places where people want to live, work, visit and play. The program encourages collaborative partnerships between communities and artists to integrate site-specific works of public art into existing or proposed infrastructure improvement projects. Program goals are to enhance a sense of community pride and identity, foster social connections, and to improve the livability and vibrancy of Vermont downtowns, villages, and neighborhoods. Find out about the award-winning Animating Infrastructure projects.

Artist Development Awards

A special funding round of Artist Development grants helps to support artists adapting to Covid-19. Grants support activities that enhance mastery of an artist’s craft or skills or that increase the viability of an artist's business. Many proposals from this round focused on today’s digital reality, with proposals to support the redesign of websites or to attend online learning opportunities. This round was funded through a partnership with the Vermont Community Foundation. Find out about this year's Artist Development grantees.
Impact Surveys
According to the Americans for the Arts, the estimated total economic impact to the nonprofit arts and cultural sector in the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic is $10.2 billion. Please participate in these 5-10 minute ongoing economic impact surveys from Americans for the Arts. The results will help inform policy and recovery relief efforts.
The survey is designed to capture financial and creative impact of Covid-19 on creative workers, highlight the resiliency and generosity of the creative sector, and make sure that the five million creative workers in the U.S. are supported and heard during the crisis and the eventual recovery.

The survey captures a broad spectrum of data and stories that will demonstrate how the arts and culture workers triumphed and survived this crisis as well as the effect of the outbreak on operations through canceled events and performances, lost wages, and additional expenses.

Recent Classifieds
Posted: July 27, 2020
Category: Job Postings
End Date: August 31, 2020

Posted: August 13, 2020
Category: Calls to Artists
End Date: September 7, 2020

Posted: August 18, 2020
Category: Calls to Artists
End Date: September 30, 2020
Submit Listings to Our Arts Calendar and Classifieds
Are you organizing an exhibit, concert, class, or other arts event? Do you need to list an ad for space, residencies, or a call for submissions? Submit your event listing to our calendar, or submit a classified ad listing.

Listings are free and seen by thousands of people throughout and beyond Vermont. Once submitted, eligible listings are reviewed, categorized, and published within two business days. Council staff may contact you for more information.
The Vermont Arts Council is funded, in part, by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, which requires a 1:1 match from the Vermont State Legislature. Council grants, programs, and statewide arts promotion would not be possible without the critical funding provided by these government agencies.
Vermont Arts Council | 802.828.3291