Arts organizations in Idaho can apply for Covid-related relief. The Idaho Commission on the Arts is accepting applications for $2,500 grants. The money comes from the state’s American Rescue Plan money for non-profit arts groups.
“The pandemic’s economic effects have been quite long and protracted and the arts organizations still face pretty significant cash flow issues because of the pandemic stretching over two years’ time. These funds are still coming at a rather timely moment when organizations will need them," said commission executive director Michael Faison.
He says the grants can be spent for operational funding, including salaries and stipends for artists.
To qualify, organizations must have been operating as non-profits in Idaho for at least a year. Applications are due by the end of the day on May 9.
Faison hopes to provide grants to more than 100 eligible arts organizations.
“We’re never going to save anybody, but we can help. We can be just one piece of a larger picture that helps their solvency so that they can continue to deliver programs for the public," he said.
This is the second recent grant project involving the Idaho Commission for the Arts. It is also distributing a million dollars in one-time funding from the state’s budget surplus to help rural school districts buy new arts-related equipment.
Faison says 71 of the 116 school districts that qualify for the grants submitted applications. The state Board of Education will review those applications in early May. Faison says it's conceivable that all of the districts may receive the money they've asked for.
