Dear Friends,
The arts came alive again this summer all across Vermont. Wherever you live, I hope your spirits were lifted by dance and theater performances, poetry readings, craft fairs and concerts. In our downtowns and parks and along riverfronts, arts events helped us all to come back together after a long and difficult time.
Thanks to unprecedented support from the state and federal governments, foundations, and hundreds of generous individuals--like many of you--the Vermont Arts Council has overseen the distribution of more than $7 million in COVID relief grants since the pandemic hit our state in March 2020. We delivered urgently-needed aid to artists whose business evaporated overnight and nonprofit cultural organizations struggling to survive.
Now Vermont's arts and culture sector needs our help again. With winter on the way, our cultural organizations face an uncertain future. They need assistance, to manage the high cost of COVID-safe equipment and supplies, to re-boot programs and re-engage their audiences, and to devise new financial models to survive.
Help us keep the lights on for the downtown theaters, museums, galleries and artist studios that are the heartbeat and economic anchor for so many Vermont communities. Every donation makes a difference!
With thanks,
