January 29, 2024 (Cape Cod, MA) – For the second time in three years, the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod is being awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The Arts Foundation will use its $30,000 in federal funding to support artists on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket through grants which will help them build capabilities or to carry out projects which address community equity.
The Arts Foundation’s award is tied to the NEA’s $27.1 million investment in the arts through 958 grants throughout the country that it announced on January 24. The NEA received 1,996 eligible applications requesting more than $102.7 million in funding as part of this round of grants.
“We are truly grateful for the NEA’s commitment to strengthening the creative sector which is allowing the Arts Foundation to directly support artists who contribute so much to the health, vitality, and vibrancy of our region,” said Arts Foundation Executive Director Julie Wake. “We are excited to see the impact that this federal funding has in empowering artists to elevate their work to make a positive difference in our community.”
“The NEA is delighted to announce this grant to the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod which is helping to contribute to the strength and well-being of the arts sector and local community,” said National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “We are pleased to be able to support Cape Cod and the Islands and help create an environment where all people have the opportunity to live artful lives.”
All NEA grants require a non-federal cost share of at least 1 to 1. The Arts Foundation will be matching its grant which will mean a total of $60,000 will go to artist-driven projects that meet the organization’s threshold for funding.
What makes this award particularly meaningful, Wake said, is that it allows the Arts Foundation to use federal funding to directly support artists. Aside from literature and translation projects, the NEA does not provide grants to individuals.
Earlier this month, the Arts Foundation opened its current round of grant applications with one dedicated to artists and the other to organizations. Applications are available by clicking this link.
The Arts Foundation is holding two Info Sessions for artist applicants. The first took place on January 29, and the second is on Tuesday, March 19, noon to 1 pm which you can register for here.
Grants for artists will range from $5,000 to $10,000. The deadline to apply is Monday, April 8. The Arts Foundation anticipates announcing awards in late April.
In 2021, the Arts Foundation received its first-ever NEA grant which allowed it to award $139,000 in federal funds to 14 Cape-based organizations to assist in their pandemic recovery. Those awards, which were distributed in September 2022, ranged from $5,000 to $20,000.
Last week the Arts Foundation was one of 56 recipients in Massachusetts to receive an NEA grant. The others on Cape Cod include the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown; Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill; and The Silk Road Project in Wellfleet.
The Arts Foundation was awarded a grant as a Local Arts Agency (LAA) which allows it to subaward federal funding in support of arts programming in the community. A total of 50 grants, totaling $1.53 million, were awarded to LAAs across the country; the Arts Foundation was the only LAA in Massachusetts and one of only 3 in New England to receive an NEA grant.
Last March, the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners voted unanimously to designate the Arts Foundation as the region’s arts agency for Barnstable County. That designation made the Arts Foundation eligible to apply for and receive this federal grant.
The Arts Foundation’s match for its annual grant giving has been made possible with support from William Raveis Real Estate, Trish Kennedy, South Shore Playhouse Associates, the Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod, RogersGray, the Donald C. McGraw Foundation, the Arts Foundation’s generous Prelude to Summer Gala gift-a-grant donors, and the AFCC Patron program.
About the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod
Founded in 1987, the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod’s mission is to support and strengthen a vibrant arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region. It fulfills its mission by funding grants; by increasing access to arts and culture in the region for all on Cape Cod; by advocating for more awareness on the impact the Cape’s creative economy has on our region and beyond; and by building a strong arts community network through membership as well as professional development opportunities that fall under its Creative Exchange program.