COVID-19 and Vermont Arts Council Grantmaking

Vermont Economic Recovery Grants

Vermont’s H.966 legislation provides economic relief to businesses and organizations (including nonprofits) using funds Vermont received from the Federal CARES Act. This bill allocated $5 million to support cultural nonprofit organizations across Vermont.

As of September 2, 2020, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) is no longer administering Vermont Economic Recovery Grants to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations. In order to distribute the remaining funds that were earmarked in H.966 for cultural nonprofits, as of September 21, the Arts Council will accept applications for Economic Recovery Grants.

Applications will be accepted beginning September 21, 2020 and will be awarded until funds are depleted. There are two types of applications: new applicant funding for organizations that have not received an Economic Recovery Grant before, and supplemental funding for organizations that have already received an Economic Recovery Grant and are in need of more funding.

The Council is no longer accepting applications for Rapid Response Artist Relief or Covid-19 Cultural Relief grants, our first relief funds established to support artists and organizations respectively through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Through the Rapid Response Artist Relief program, the Council has awarded more than $170,000 in relief grants to 425 artists. Through Covid-19 Cultural Relief grants in partnership with Vermont Humanities, 123 arts and culture organizations have received more than $780,000 in relief funds. Click here for a full list of our recent grantees.

In partnership with the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Arts Council awarded Covid-19 Response Grants of $10,000 to the Clemmons Family Farm and $5,000 to the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association to provide emergency relief grants to artists in their networks.

Like you, we are adapting to the massive changes brought by this global pandemic. We have been moved by the creative responses from Vermont’s arts sector and inspired to do everything we can to bolster it through this difficult chapter.

This page summarizes the changes and additions to our grant programs; please reference specific grant program pages for more details.

For Current Grantees

Program managers are here to help and have already been in touch with many grantees. In most cases, we can grant extensions for projects and reporting. In many cases, we can adjust the terms/scope of the grant to accommodate cancelled events. And when possible, we are shifting project grants to be unrestricted. Contact your grant’s program manager to discuss your needs.

Program Statuses

We have extended the deadlines of some of our grant programs, but have decided to keep others as is, in order to avoid delays in getting much-needed funding to the field.