The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has been approved to receive an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. The RPO is recommended to receive the maximum amount of $150,000 and may use this funding to save jobs and to fund operations and facilities, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional efforts to encourage attendance and participation. In total, the NEA will award grants totaling $57,750,000 to 567 arts organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC.
“Our nation’s arts sector has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Endowment for the Arts’ American Rescue Plan funding will help arts organizations, such as the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, to rebuild and reopen,” says Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA. “The arts are crucial in helping America’s communities heal, unite, and inspire, as well as essential to our nation’s economic recovery.”
“Like all arts and cultural organizations, our orchestra has been hard hit by this ongoing pandemic. Our 2020-21 season pivoted to an entirely virtual one, and we have had to implement many safety protocols this season, including frequent testing of musicians and staff, limiting attendance, and checking audience vaccination proof,” explains RPO President & CEO Curtis S. Long. “We’re very thankful to the NEA for recommending us for this funding.”
The American Rescue Plan was signed into law in March 2021 when the NEA was provided $135 million for the arts sector. The funding for organizations is the third installment providing more than $57.7 million for arts organizations. In April 2021, the NEA announced $52 million (40 percent) in ARP funding would be allocated to 62 state, jurisdictional, and regional arts organizations for regranting through their respective programs. The second installment in November 2021 allocated $20.2 million to 66 local arts agencies for subgranting to local artists and art organizations. For more information on the NEA’s American Rescue Plan grants, including the full list of arts organizations funded, visit www.arts.gov/
COVID-19/the-american-rescue-plan.
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