Arts council to distribute CARES Act grant money

The Nevada Arts Council has received CARES Act funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to help save jobs in the arts sector and keep the doors open to the thousands of organizations that add value to America’s economy and the creative life of our communities.

The nearly $400,000 in grants will be awarded to nonprofit arts organizations across the state to help them and their employees endure the economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Grants will be one-time emergency relief payments to be used for operational needs by Oct. 31. The funding must be used for salary support, artists’ fees or contractual personnel or facilities costs such as rent and utilities and may not be used for capital improvements, debt reduction or re-granting.

“The Nevada Arts Council is honored to be able to provide operational relief support to Nevada’s nonprofit arts organizations through these CARES Act funds,” NAC Executive Director Tony Manfredi said. “As of May 20, 96% of these organizations have had to cancel events, they have experienced a loss in attendance of 528,582 patrons and have seen a total financial loss of $3,157,140.

“These funds come at a time when these organizations need it most and will allow the creativity, innovation, and inspiration of the arts community to continue to uplift us while contributing to the economic stability of our state.”

The application window for these grants runs from June 1 to June 12, and grant amounts will be from $1,000 to $10,000. All incorporated 501(c)(3) arts nonprofits incorporated in Nevada will be eligible.

The NAC suggests that applications be made as soon as possible, as funds could be exhausted before the application deadline. Full funding will be awarded to eligible applicants in the order in which applications are received while funds remain available.

Fiscal year 2020-21 Operating Support grantees need not apply as they will receive CARES Act emergency relief grant funding through an amendment to their current grant. At its May 1 meeting, the NAC approved $291,000 for the agency’s 50 operational grant recipients and $100,750 in first-come, first-served funding for other arts and cultural organizations not already NAC grant recipients.

The Nevada Arts Council will give an overview of the CARES Act grant guidelines and requirements and answer questions during a webinar at 1 p.m. May 27. Register for the webinar at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07eh3l3d9f06036775&oseq=&c=&ch=

Grant guidelines also can be accessed at http://nvculture.org/nevadaartscouncil/caresactgrants/