VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Two Hampton Roads staples, the Virginia Opera and the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, are scrambling to try to raise thousands of dollars after federal grant funding was unexpectedly taken back.
The Virginia Opera’s latest production is a story of love, but the National Endowment for the Arts, which was supposed to provide funding for the project, isn’t showing any love.
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“It certainly is unfortunate that we have this new hole that has opened up for us. A very unexpected hole," Virginia Opera Interim Director and CEO John-Paul Schaefer said.
The Virginia Opera received a $25,000 grant from the endowment, but shortly before the production wrapped up, the opera was notified that the grant was being taken back.
“In their communication to us, it was a shifting in grant-making priorities," Schaefer said when asked if the opera was told why the grant was being withdrawn.
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The opera was planning to use the money as reimbursement for the opera’s own money that had already been spent on the production. As of Monday, the opera was hoping to fundraise to cover the loss.
“It’s a significant amount of money, I don’t want to downplay that at all, but it's something we are able to overcome," Schaefer said. "It is going to require the generosity of the community."
The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, commonly referred to as MOCA, is in a similar situation. As of Monday, MOCA had also just completed a project that they were planning on being reimbursed for. Like the opera, the museum now has to find another way to make up the cost. In the museum's case, that's about $33,000.
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The project was a two-year collaboration with area public school students, using art to help raise awareness about the environment.
“We put a call out to our community, asking people to consider a donation," Virginia MOCA Deputy Director Truly Matthews said.
If the museum can’t make up the money, it will end the fiscal year with a deficit.
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“As a nonprofit in good standing, that’s not something that we want to do," said Matthews.
How the museum will work with the federal government in the future was uncertain Monday.
"It's something that's uncertain for Virginia MOCA, but also arts and cultural organizations nationwide," Matthews said.
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The opera is going to be a little hesitant about going after federal funding in the future.
"It, obviously, will make us think twice about going back to the federal government for funding. Although, the National Endowment for the Arts has been a long-standing funder of the arts. It's a very prestigious grant to receive, so I don't think it would prevent us from going back to them if the conditions allowed," Schaefer explained.
Both nonprofits, though, said this doesn’t change their commitment to the arts.
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"We believe strongly at Virginia Opera that the arts are an important part of every community," said Schaefer. "Not only do they enrich lives, they are an economic engine."
"This project was important because it was about so much more than the sculpture," Matthews said, referring to the large sculpture out front of the museum that's part of the project the now-withdrawn grant funding was supposed to cover. "Not only did it encourage an appreciation for the arts, but also to think thoughtfully about our environment."
As of Monday, both the opera and the museum were appealing the funding being taken back. But when a decision could be made was unclear.
