Cultural Nonprofits Awarded New England Arts Resilience Funds

(Boston, MA) The New England Foundation for the Arts is pleased to announce 73 awards ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 to arts and cultural nonprofits across the region totaling $840,000 through the New England Arts Resilience Fund, part of the national United States Arts Resilience Fund. These awards support organizations with recovery and planning capital for a post-pandemic future and were made possible with support from the American Rescue Plan through the National Endowment for the Arts.

According to Americans for the Arts’ October 2021 update on the impact of the pandemic on the sector, job losses at nonprofit arts organizations nationally are three times worse than nonprofit average. While there has been improvement in employment in the sector, jobs have yet to recover and are likely to take six months or more. Eleven percent of the organizations are not confident of their survival.

“These awards are possible thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the National Endowment for the Arts. Federal investment in the arts and culture sector reaches every congressional district; given the research on the economic and social benefits of the arts, this support is crucial and an essential aspect of community health,” said NEFA executive director Cathy Edwards. “NEFA is pleased to partner with the National Endowment for the Arts to deliver this critical support; we thank Acting Chair Ann Eilers for her leadership, and we are excited to support the nomination of Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson as Chair.”

Since the program’s inception, the New England Arts Resilience Fund has awarded nearly $2.8 million to a sector deeply impacted by the pandemic.

“New England Arts Resilience Fund awards are enabling these primarily small to mid-size community organizations - from Stonington, Maine, to Bridgeport, Connecticut - to cover essential expenses, including day to day operations expenses, health and safety supplies, and salary support,” said Adrienne Petrillo, Senior Program Director, New England Presenting & Touring. “They are essential to their communities’ vitality.”

View the 73 Recipients

• 3S Artspace, Portsmouth, NH: $10,000
• 826 Boston, Boston, MA: $10,000
• Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, ME: $15,000
• Abilities Dance Boston, Boston, MA: $10,000
• ANIKAYA, Somerville, MA: $5,000
• Aquinnah Cultural Center, Aquinnah, MA: $20,000
• Art At Work, Portland, ME: $5,000
• Artists Collective , Hartford, CT: $20,000
• Artists For Humanity, Boston, MA: $10,000
• ArtsEmerson, Boston, MA: $10,000
• Artspace New Haven, New Haven: CT, $15,000
• AS220, Providence, RI: $10,000
• BarnArts Center for the Arts, Barnard, VT: $10,000
• Bates Dance Festival, Lewiston, ME: $10,000
• Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, Boston, MA: $15,000
• Burlington City Arts, Burlington, VT: $10,000
• Capitol Center for the Arts, Concord, NH: $10,000
• The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, West Rutland, VT: $10,000
• Catamount Arts, St. Johnsbury, VT: $10,000
• Christal Brown/INSPIRIT, Middlebury, VT: $10,000
• Clemmons Family Farm, Charlotte, VT: $20,000
• The Colonial Performing Arts Center, Keene, NH: $10,000
• Community Engagement Lab, Montpelier, VT: $10,000
• Community Music Center of Boston, Boston, MA: $15,000
• Company One Theatre, Boston, MA: $15,000
• Double Edge Theatre, Ashfield, MA: $10,000
• DownCity Design, Providence, RI: $15,000
• FirstWorks, Providence, RI: $10,000
• Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, VT: $10,000
• The Front Porch Arts Collective, Boston, MA: $20,000
• Global Arts Live, Cambridge, MA: $10,000
• GrubStreet, Boston, MA: $10,000
• HartBeat Ensemble, Hartford, CT: $10,000
• Helen Day Art Center/The Current, Stowe, VT: $10,000
• Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH: $10,000
• Indigo Arts Alliance, Portland, ME: $20,000
• JAG Productions, White River Junction, VT: $15,000
• Ko Theater Works, Inc/Ko Festival of Performance, Belchertown, MA: $10,000
• LA Arts, Lewiston, ME: $10,000
• Lebanon Opera House, Lebanon, NH: $10,000
• Litchfield Festival, Litchfield, CT: $10,000
• Mariposa Museum and World Culture Center, Peterborough, NH: $10,000
• MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA: $10,000
• Mixed Magic Theatre, Providence, RI: $10,000
• Neighborhood Studios of Fairfield County, Bridgeport, CT: $10,000
• New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA), Brattleboro, VT: $10,000
• Next Stage Arts, Putney, VT: $10,000
• Northern Stage, White River Junction, VT: $10,000
• Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater, Middletown, CT: $5,000
• Opera House Arts, Stonington, ME: $10,000
• Piti Theatre Company, Shelburne Falls, MA: $5,000
• Puerto Rican Institute for Arts and Advocacy, Providence, RI: $10,000
• Puppet Showplace Theater, Brookline, MA: $10,000
• Queen Ann Nzinga Center, Inc, Plainville, CT: $15,000
• Raw Art Works, Lynn, MA: $10,000
• Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT: $10,000
• Rhode Island Black Storytellers Providence, RI: $20,000
• Rhode Island Latino Arts, Providence, RI: $20,000
• Royall House and Slave Quarters, Medford, MA: $10,000
• Sandglass Theater, Putney, VT: $10,000
• SPACE, Portland, ME: $10,000
• The Steel Yard, Providence, RI: $10,000
• Teatro ECAS, Providence, RI: $10,000
• The Theater Offensive, Boston, MA: $15,000
• Tomaquag Museum, Exeter, RI: $20,000
• Urbano Project, Boston, MA: $10,000
• Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, Burlington, VT: $10,000
• Vermont Jazz Center (VJC), Brattleboro, VT: $10,000
• Veronica Robles Cultural Center (VROCC), East Boston, MA: $20,000
• WAM Theatre, Inc, Lenox, MA: $5,000
• WaterFire Providence, Providence, RI: $10,000
• The Yard, Chilmark, MA: $10,000
• ZUMIX, East Boston, MA: $10,000

An initiative of the six U.S. Regional Arts Organizations (Arts Midwest, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Mid-America Arts Alliance, New England Foundation for the Arts, South Arts, and Western States Arts Federation), the Fund is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It was created in 2020 in response to the impact of COVID-19 on the nation’s arts infrastructure and supports organizations with recovery and planning capital for a post-pandemic future. The program was funded nationally through a $10 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and amplified in New England with major funding from the federal CARES Act, and most recently for this round of funding, the American Rescue Plan. 

About NEFA

The New England Foundation for the Arts invests in artists and communities and fosters equitable access to the arts, enriching the cultural landscape in New England and the nation. NEFA accomplishes this by granting funds to artists and cultural organizations; connecting them to each other and their audiences; and analyzing their economic contributions. NEFA serves as a regional partner for the National Endowment for the Arts, New England’s state arts agencies, and private foundations. Learn more at www.nefa.org