With a Little Help from Our Friends … Ohio Arts Organizations Have A New Funding Opportunity

The United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund

I am pleased to share a national funding opportunity—the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund. Thanks to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the United States Regional Arts Organizations (RAO), this initiative will award grants of $30,000 – $75,000 to small and mid-sized arts organizations in the Midwest, prioritizing arts organizations that are led by and serving people from rural communities, and/or led by and serving people of color and Indigenous people. This is a national recovery initiative helping under-resourced arts and culture organizations weather the COVID-19 crisis.

The Ohio Arts Council is a member of Arts Midwest, one of the RAOs participating in this great funding opportunity, which makes our state’s arts organizations eligible to nominate themselves or be nominated. To follow are the details. I hope each of you will consider this opportunity for your organization or an arts organization you know! Nominations are due July 8!

Eligibility

An organization is eligible for consideration if they meet the following criteria. Your organization:

• Is a small or mid-size arts organization of any artistic discipline and practice.
• Is led by and/or represents and serves populations and communities that have historically had unequal access to resources for support, investment, and capitalization.
• Is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
• Has a DUNS (Dunn and Bradstreet) number. 
• Is in the Midwest region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, or Wisconsin and the Native nations that share this geography. 

Priority will be given to organizations with a recent annual organizational budget of $250,000 to $10 million (before COVID-19). Organizations with a budget between $150,000 - $250,000 operating in severely under-resourced circumstances with a record of vision and impact on the community may be considered.

Anyone may nominate an arts organization to receive an award by filling out a simple online form before July 8, 2020. If you want to know more before you nominate, to follow are links to additional information: eligibility guidelines and the process for distributing funds.

Ohio, let’s not leave money on the table! Nominate today. Remember, the arts in Ohio are better when we work together!

Until next time,

Donna S. Collins
Executive Director

Featured image: (From left to right) Great Lakes Theater, photo courtesy of Great Lakes Theater; Cleveland Institute of Music pre-college students at the 2018 Governor's Awards for the Arts Luncheon, photo by Terry Gilliam; Dancing Wheels Company & School, photo by Jess Cavender; Sogbety Diomande at the 2018 Arts Impact Ohio Conference, photo by Terry Gilliam