Vermont Arts Council

Covid-19 Response and Resources OLD

Covid Aid

$7,042,725

Cultural Orgs + Artists

934

*219 individual organizations & 517 individual artists

Across Vermont, hundreds of museums, theaters, community arts centers, galleries, and dance studios remain among the hardest hit and face an uncertain economic future due to the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its variants. From loss of admissions revenue through ticket sales and memberships, income loss through gift shop and gallery sales to unexpected new expenditures with new cleaning and disinfecting protocols and the rapid adoption of new technologies – all have taken a huge toll.

In an early study of the pandemic’s impact, Vermont’s creative sector lost over 8,000 jobs and sales of over $216 million between April and July of 2020, according to a Brookings Institution report. In our most recent grant program, the Covid-19 Cultural Recovery Grant Program, we surveyed the 197 Vermont cultural organizations that applied – they reported $36 million in lost revenue from April 2020 to mid-2021.

Increased funding through new partnerships and private donations has been vital to help support Vermont’s vibrant arts and humanities sector. Since April 2020, direct aid to 219 cultural organizations and 517 individual artists has totaled more than $7 million. Grants have been awarded through partnerships with Vermont Humanities, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, and with CARES Act and American Rescue Plan Act funds distributed through the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Support for individual artists was also made possible through new philanthropic partnerships with the Vermont Community Foundation and the New England Foundation for the Arts, and by generous contributions from Higher Ground and other donors.

The Council’s Covid-19 relief programs to date include Rapid Response Artist Relief Grants, Cultural Relief Grants and Cultural Recovery Grants for organizations, and sponsorships for outdoor arts events through Stages in the Sun.

Full list of COVID-19 grantees.

Reporting

CARES Act Report to the CommunityCultural Relief Grant Program

In March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit Vermont, the Vermont Arts Council and Vermont Humanities together developed the Cultural Relief Grant Program to deliver urgently needed economic aid to struggling cultural organizations. The final report, our “Cares Act Report to the Community,” tells the story about this joint program that brought $781,000 in a matter of weeks to 123 cultural organizations across Vermont in all 14 counties.

Read the CARES Act Report to the Community.

 

 

 

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In the Press: Covid-19 and Vermont's Creative Sector

admin-place October 22, 2021