New England Arts Resilience Fund Awards $1.806 million to Support Arts Infrastructure

Fund makes grants to leading regional cultural nonprofits for recovery and resilience, invests in historically under-resourced organizations

Sep 18, 2020

A community class at Clemmons Family Farm; photo courtesy Clemmons Family Farm.

(Boston, MA) The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) is pleased to announce awards totaling $1.806 million to 71 arts and cultural nonprofits in New England through the New England Arts Resilience Fund, part of the national United States Arts Resilience Fund.

The Fund, 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) was made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It was created 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 funding from the CARES Act.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the creative sector. An ongoing study from Americans for the Arts estimates financial losses to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations at $10.2 billion, with an estimated loss of $10.7 billion in event-related spending by arts audiences (as of August 3, 2020).

Despite the numerous challenges noted by the 135 Fund applicants, several opportunities were surfaced, including:

an increase in engagement with the public through digital channels and advances in technology;
an ever-greater emphasis on advancing equity internally and externally during a period of change and reflection;
and playing a leading role in building community cohesion by fostering dialogues and collaborations.

With awards ranging from $10,000 to $50,000, the New England Arts Resilience Fund prioritized organizations, communities, populations, and art forms that have historically had less access to major financial resources for sustainability. The Fund sought in particular to support organizations that are led by and deeply engage communities of color. View the list of grant recipients:

View Grant Recipients

Recipient	City	State	Award
3S Artspace	Portsmouth	NH	$20,000
826 Boston	Boston	MA	$30,000
Abbe Museum	Bar Harbor	ME	$50,000
Abilities Dance Boston	Boston	MA	$10,000
Angkor Dance Troupe	Lowell	MA	$10,000
ANIKAYA	Somerville	MA	$10,000
Aquinnah Cultural Center	Aquinnah	MA	$25,000
Art At Work	Portland	ME	$10,000
Artists Collective	Hartford	CT	$50,000
Artists For Humanity	Boston	MA	$30,000
ArtsEmerson	Boston	MA	$30,000
Artspace New Haven	New Haven	CT	$30,000
AS220	Providence	RI	$30,000
BAMS Fest, Inc.	Boston	MA	$35,000
Bates Dance Festival	Lewiston	ME	$20,000
Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, Pao Arts Center	Boston	MA	$20,000
Burlington City Arts	Burlington	VT	$35,000
Capitol Center for the Arts	Concord	NH	$30,000
The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center	West Rutland	VT	$20,000
Catamount Arts	St. Johnsbury	VT	$20,000
Clemmons Family Farm	Charlotte	VT	$50,000
Community Engagement Lab	Montpelier	VT	$35,000
Community Music Center of Boston	Boston	MA	$35,000
Company One Theatre	Boston	MA	$20,000
Dartmouth College, Hopkins Center for the Arts	Hanover	NH	$20,000
Double Edge Theatre	Ashfield	MA	$30,000
DownCity Design	Providence	RI	$35,000
FirstWorks	Providence	RI	$30,000
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts	Burlington	VT	$20,000
The Front Porch Arts Collective	Boston	MA	$16,000
Global Arts Live	Cambridge	MA	$20,000
GrubStreet	Boston	MA	$20,000
HartBeat Ensemble	Hartford	CT	$20,000
Helen Day Art Center	Stowe	VT	$25,000
Indigo Arts Alliance	Portland	ME	$25,000
JAG Productions	White River Junction	VT	$10,000
Ko Festival of Performance	Belchertown	MA	$20,000
Lebanon Opera House	Lebanon	NH	$20,000
Mariposa Museum and World Culture Center	Peterborough	NH	$25,000
MASS MoCA	North Adams	MA	$30,000
Mixed Magic Theatre	Providence	RI	$25,000
Neighborhood Studios of Fairfield County	Bridgeport	CT	$35,000
New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA)	Brattleboro	VT	$30,000
New Repertory Theatre	Watertown	MA	$35,000
Next Stage Arts	Putney	VT	$20,000
Northern Stage	White River Junction	VT	$20,000
NXTHVN INC.	New Haven	CT	$25,000
Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater	Middletown	CT	$15,000
Opera House Arts	Stonington	ME	$20,000
Piti Theatre Company	Shelburne Falls	MA	$10,000
Puppet Showplace Theater	Brookline	MA	$20,000
Queen Ann Nzinga Center, Inc	Plainville	CT	$25,000
Raw Art Works	Lynn	MA	$30,000
Real Art Ways	Hartford	CT	$30,000
Rhode Island Black Storytellers	Providence	RI	$25,000
Rhode Island Latino Arts	Providence	RI	$20,000
Sandglass Theater	Putney	VT	$25,000
Seacoast African American Cultural Center	Portsmouth	NH	$10,000
SPACE	Portland	ME	$30,000
The Steel Yard	Providence	RI	$30,000
Teatro ECAS	Providence	RI	$20,000
The Theater Offensive	Boston	MA	$50,000
Tomaquag Museum	Exeter	RI	$35,000
University of Massachusetts, Fine Arts Center	Amherst	MA	$20,000
Urbano Project	Boston	MA	$25,000
Vermont Abenaki Artists Association	Burlington	VT	$20,000
Vermont Jazz Center	Brattleboro	VT	$20,000
Veronica Robles Cultural Center	East Boston	MA	$20,000
WaterFire Providence	Providence	RI	$30,000
The Yard	Chilmark	MA	$30,000
ZUMIX	East Boston	MA	$35,000

“Every arts organization in New England has been affected by the pandemic,” said Adrienne Petrillo, Senior Program Director, New England Presenting & Touring. “With many strong applications reflecting the vibrant cultural ecosystem in New England, awards were made with an emphasis on greater reach, especially to the historically under-resourced organizations who are essential to our region’s future.”

“These grants complement NEFA’s emergency funding support to artists, made in April 2020. We recognize how essential cultural organizations are to our communities, and as partners to artists. We are grateful to the Mellon Foundation’s leadership, vision and thought-partnership with the six regional arts organizations, and to our partners at the National Endowment for the Arts for the CARES Act support, enabling this fund to extend its impact,” said NEFA executive director Cathy Edwards. “We are also grateful to the 15 application reviewers who helped understand the applications and make difficult decisions.”

View Application Reviewers

Anonymous (CT)
Anonymous (MA)
Taylor Ho Bynum (VT)
Luis Croquer, Independent Curator, Former Director and Chief Curator of the Rose Art Museum (MA)
Stephanie P. Fortunato, City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism (RI)
Neha Gandhi, Associate Producer, MELA Arts Connect (CA)
Angela Han, Consultant (Washington D.C.)
Orlando Hernandez, independent artist (RI)
Jennifer Hutchins, Maine Association of Nonprofits (ME)
Margaret Jacobs (Akwesasne Mohawk) (NH)
Adriane Jefferson, Director of Arts and Cultural Affairs for the City of New Haven (CT)
Toby MacNutt (VT)
Nat May, Program Officer, Onion Foundation (ME)
Madeline Sayet (Mohegan), Executive Director, Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (CT)
Carrie Zaslow, Executive Director, Providence Revolving Fund (RI)

The New England Arts Resilience Fund is supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New England Foundation for the Arts. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded $1,270,000 to NEFA as part of Mellon’s $10,000,000 investment in the six Regional Arts Organizations to support arts organizations across the country. Additionally, through the federal CARES Act, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded $568,000 to NEFA to support the region’s nonprofit cultural organizations.

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.