National Endowment for the Arts Announces More Than $1.3 Million in Grants, Board Meetings, Upcoming Deadlines
May 13, 2021
Join us! May 20, 9 - 10 AM
The Arts are Open for Business: Guidance and Best Practices for a Safe Reopening WEBINAR
As restrictions continue to loosen and we look towards a goal for full re-openings on June 15 (and into the fall), join us for a panel discussion to review the latest guidance on capacity, safety, health and sanitization, as well as planned and best practices for patron and event management.
Joining us will be:
Cassidy Rasnick, Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Commonwealth of Virginia
Rebecca Tomazin, Community Mitigation Coordinator / COVID-19, Virginia Department of Health
Alex Nyerges, Director, VMFA - Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Bill Martin, Director, The Valentine
Leah Ross, Executive Director, Birthplace of Country Music
Registration not required. Please join the Webinar using the link below or join by phone:
Approximately 10,000 SVOG applications have been submitted in the initial two weeks of opening on April 26th,which represents $10 billion in SVOG requested funds out of a possibility of $16 billion. These numbers include applications for Priority 1, 2, and 3, which means that all eligible applicants that were successfully submitted could have a strong chance of being fully funded, regardless of their priority period. It also opens the promising possibility of receiving a second “supplemental grant” for first quarter 2021 losses.
Virginia's own Azhane Pollard recently won the National Endowment for the Arts' inaugural Poetry Ourselves competition, a second competition that was open to the Poetry Out Loud state and jurisdictional champions to highlight their original poetry. Each champion had the opportunity to submit an original work of poetry in one of two categories—written or spoken—which were judged by award-winning poet Eve L. Ewing.
“It is truly inspirational to hear the thoughts, experiences, feelings, and ideas of Poetry Out Loud participants in their own voice, their own words, demonstrating that poetry can be both intimate and ubiquitous,” said Amy Stolls, director of Literary Arts at the National Endowment for the Arts. “Congratulations to this year’s Poetry Ourselves winners.”
"We are so proud of Azhane's achievements in this year's Poetry Out Loud competition, both at becoming the state chamption and also winning Poetry Ourselves with her original work. She and her hometown of Hopewell have much to be proud of," said Janet Starke, Executive Director of the VCA. Though Azhane did not advance to the national finals, anticipate, we have no doubt she will go far! The national finals will be webcast on Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. ET at arts.gov/poetry-out-loud.
The 2021 Poetry Ourselves winners are:
Spoken winner: “Generations” by Azhane Pollard, Virginia
Written winner: “Wheatgrass” by Brady L. Drummond, Montana
National Endowment for the Arts Announces More Than $1.3 Million in Grants to Virginia Arts Organizations
The National Endowment for the Arts announced that it has awarded grants totaling just over $1.3 million in grants to 24 arts organizations and agencies in Virginia, including the Virginia Commission for the Arts. These federal grants support projects by some of Virginia's major arts institutions. In addition, the Endowment works in partnership with the Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA) to ensure that the people of Virginia have access to the arts.
In announcing the grants NEA Acting Chairman Ann Eilers stated, “As the country and the arts sector begin to imagine returning to a post-pandemic world, the National Endowment for the Arts is proud to announce funding that will help arts organizations reengage fully with partners and audiences. While the arts, whether through books, movies, or online performances and programs, have been a sustaining force for many throughout the pandemic, the chance to gather with one another and share arts experiences is its own necessity and pleasure.”
Janet Starke, Executive Director of the Virginia Commission for the Arts, said, "These awards from the National Endowment for the Arts are coming at a pivotal time, as arts organizations, and the artists whom they employ, plan for a fuller reopening in the months ahead--many with transformed models that aim to more intentionally address equity in the arts. In so doing, the arts will continue to be an integral partner in the recovery of individuals and communities across the Commonwealth."
To view the complete list of grants to Virginia, click here..
Further Easing of Restrictions Go Into Effect Saturday May 15
As Governor Northam announcedin late April, the next phase of eased restrictions take effect this Saturday (May 15). Among the key impacts to arts groups:
Indoor capacity limits expand to 50% or 1000 persons (the lesser).
Outdoor capacity limits expand to 50%.
Private events (receptions, rentals) expand to 100 people (indoors) and 250 people (outdoors).
For full details visit here, and join us for the May 20 webinar.
ICYMI: Startup Studio’s Demystifying PR: It’s Not as Hard to Promote Yourself as You Think, with Carrie Thornbrugh, from April 30, 2021.
A recording of the presentation video is on the Startup Studio website, along with recordings from the first two sessions,here.
Carrie has also shared a PDF with the resources she mentioned during her presentation, here.
