DeltaARTS receives U.S. Arts Resilience Fund Grant

From DELTAARTS

Special to the Times

DeltaARTS is among a select group of organizations to receive a United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund Grant through the Mid-America Arts Alliance in response to the impact of COVID-19. This $50,000 award will support operational costs related to programming, such as technology, software and equipment that enables virtual and safe physical experiences.

Funding for DeltaARTS’s Mid-America grant is drawn from generous underwriting by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Arkansas Arts Council, and other foundations, corporations, and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.

DeltaARTS was one of only two organizations in Arkansas to receive this competitive funding, with the other being the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff.

“We are incredibly honored and grateful to the Mid-America Arts Alliance, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Arkansas Arts Council for selecting us to receive a U.S. Regional Arts Resilience Fund grant,” said DeltaARTS Executive Director Alex Waddell Smith. “This funding will help us to continue providing quality arts-based experiences for our community as we do all we can to keep our staff, board, volunteers, and participants safe throughout. The health and well-being of those we serve is top priority as we navigate the demands of the ongoing pandemic.”

The United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund provides non-matching grants to arts and cultural organizations across the country that face economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund targets rural and urban organizations that have statewide, regional, or national impact. These grants support small and midsized arts organizations of all artistic disciplines, especially those that are historically underresourced, and those representing underresourced populations, communities, and art forms. The grants support expenses associated with general operations, immediate response activities, future scenario planning, support for new media needs, help with the costs of collaborations, and costs associated with helping organizations reimagine their work and increase their resilience.

Mid-America Arts Alliance, the nation’s oldest regional arts organization, was founded in 1972 to foster cultural growth in heartland communities. Mid-America Arts Alliance strengthens and supports artists, cultural organizations, and communities throughout our region and beyond. They are especially committed to equitable policies, inclusive practices, and accessible programming celebration of the rich diversity of our region. Enriching the cultural life of historically underserved communities by providing high quality, meaningful, and accessible arts and culture programs and services.

DeltaARTS’s mission is “Imaginative Arts Education for the Delta.” What started in 1972 as a grass roots adult community theatre operated out of our founder’s home has blossomed into an interdisciplinary arts agency with national affiliations that serves thousands of all ages and backgrounds annually. Programs include Community Art Exhibits, Crittenden Youth Theatre, Delta Wolf Trap (an affiliate of the national Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts), Classroom Artist Residencies, and more.

For further information about DeltaARTS’s programs and events, visit deltaarts. org. For more information about the Mid-America Arts Alliance, visit them online at www.maaa.org.

WADDELL SMITH

“This funding will help us to continue providing quality arts-based experiences for our community … ”

ALEX WADDELL SMITH

Executive Director