VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The Virginia Beach City Council created the Virginia Beach CARES Act to support the Arts & Cultural Relief Grant Program, allocating $933,874.80 of funding to 19 different Hampton Roads nonprofit organizations.
According to a news release, due to federal, state and local guidance restricting large gatherings as a safety measure to stop the spread of COVID-19, arts and cultural organizations have seen a substantial economic impact. According to self-reported information provided in grant applications, applicant arts and cultural organizations have sustained an estimated $5.5 million in financial losses between March 2020 and December 2020.
The Virginia Beach City Council designated $1.8 million of federal CARES Act funding as direct relief to area nonprofit organizations, including relief to arts and cultural nonprofit organizations.
Federal guidelines stated businesses expenses must have been incurred and paid between March 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020. The local grant application closed on Nov. 15, 2020.
Local arts and cultural organizations who received funding through this grant include:
- Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum [awhm.org]
- Ballet Virginia [balletvirginia.org]
- Council of United Filipino Organizations of Tidewater [philippineculturalcenter.org]
- Ferry Plantation House [ferryplantationva.net]
- Little Theatre of Virginia Beach [ltvb.com]
- Military Aviation Museum [militaryaviationmuseum.org]
- Sandler Center Foundation [sandlercenterfoundation.org]
- Symphonicity [symphonicity.org]
- United Jewish Federation of Tidewater [jewishva.org]
- Utopia Feni [utopiafeni.com]
- ViBe Creative District [vibecreativedistrict.org]
- Virginia Beach Art Center [artcentervb.org]
- Virginia Beach Chorale [virginiabeachchorale.org]
- Virginia Beach Events Unlimited (Neptune Festival) [neptunefestival.com]
- Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum [vbsurfrescuemuseum.org]
- Virginia African American Cultural Center [vaaccvb.org]
- Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) [virginiamoca.org]
- Virginia Musical Theatre [vmtheatre.org]
- Zeiders American Dream Theater [thez.org]
The Cultural Affairs Department also provided three virtual informational sessions to assist organizations with the grant process along with one-on-one virtual assistance by appointment.
Since March, the Department has held six virtual roundtables meetings to foster discussions between local arts and cultural organizations and create partnerships, covering topics including Arts and Cultural Marketing, Public Art, Performing Arts, Museums, Cultural Organizations and Arts and Cultural Organization Leadership.
Hillary Plate, Cultural Programming and Grants Coordinator, believes the roundtables have become a vital pathway for connecting the arts and cultural communities as business moved to a largely online space.
“Even though the bright lights of the stage have been off, we’ve been busy with several community impact initiatives emerging from these virtual discussions.”
Through the roundtables, organizations collaborate to create ideas such as the food drive, Pop-Up Chalk Art Murals, Holiday Performance Pop-Ups planned in Town Center, and live social media conversations.
