Arts Recovery
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 (Recovery Act)

Arts Recovery

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funding from the California Arts Council

In early 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) of 2009 to help stimulate the U.S. economy. Included in this package was $50 million for the arts, to be distributed through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This economic stimulus funding is targeted “to preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the economic downturn.” The California Arts Council received $502,400 of Recovery Act funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to redistribute to California arts organizations to sustain jobs in the arts and creativity sector. The information below gives more details about how the national arts Recovery Act funds were distributed. The list of Recovery Act grant recipients from the California Arts Council is below.

See California Arts Council Recovery Act Grant Recipients.

Funding for Jobs

Guidelines specify that the NEA’s Recovery Act funds were to be used to increase the number of employed Americans. The Recovery Act NEA funding was directed for the:

• Preservation of jobs

• Reinstatement of jobs lost

• Extension of contract jobs

How the NEA distributed funding

The Recovery Act directed the NEA to distribute this funding in a manner similar to the agency’s current practice, with approximately 60% of the funding for competitively-selected arts projects, and 40% allocated to state arts agencies and regional agencies for redistribution.

 

ARRA Distribution Chart Local Arts Agencies Nea Direct Distribution Regional Arts Agencies States Arts Agencies  

  • The U.S. states, territories and District of Columbia’s arts agencies received just under $20 million from the NEA to redistribute on April 10, 2009. (SEE NEA PRESS RELEASE) The California Arts Council received $502,400 of this $20 million and will redistribute it to arts nonprofits in California.
    (Click to see information on the California Arts Council’s Recovery Act program and list of grantees.)
  • Just over $3 million was distributed to regional arts organizations to redistribute in their respective areas. The Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) is the regional arts organization serving California. (SEE NEA PRESS RELEASE) (See information on WESTAF’s Recovery Act program.)
  • The remainder of the funds was directly distributed to arts organizations from the NEA, and the deadline to apply was April 3, 2009. CLICK TO SEE CALIFORNIA NEA GRANTEES.
  • Local arts agencies (agencies in counties or cities) were able to redistribute some funds to arts organizations in their communities. CLICK TO SEE MORE INFORMATION.

How organizations applied for Recovery Act Arts Funding

There were four ways arts organizations could have received Recovery Act NEA funds: (1) directly from the NEA, (2) from the state’s arts council (the California Arts Council for California), (3) from the regional arts council (the Western States Arts Federation for California) and (4) from local arts agencies that applied for Recovery Act funds. Although organizations could only receive one NEA Recovery grant, they were able to apply for all four resource streams (federal, regional, state, local).

 

Deadlines

All deadlines for NEA Recovery Act funding for California organizations have passed and grant funding has been distributed. Keep informed of other opportunities and sign up for the California ArtBeat, the California Arts Council’s weekly eNewsletter.

ARRA timeline

Recovery Funds Beyond the NEA

By April 2010, most other federal agencies should have completed the development of procedures for allocating their portion of Recovery Act funding. For a brief overview regarding other potential funding opportunities besides the NEA -- including job training, economic development assistance, community block grants, and others -- click here. Also view the main state portal for the federal stimulus funding at www.recovery.ca.gov.

 

Find out more about California arts opportunities and info

The Recovery Funds gained a tremendous amount of press coverage and excitement, but the California Arts Council would like to remind all artistic and cultural organizations to continue to seek funding from existing resources. Opportunities are available, and we do our best to provide information to the public. Sign up for the California ArtBeat with notices about California Arts Council programs, Other Opportunities, Arts Jobs, Artists Calls and other vital information.


The California Arts Council is dedicated to providing information and assistance to the artists, arts organizations, and general public of California. Keep informed through the state's "Recovery California" portal, by watching our website, and by signing up for the California ArtBeat, our weekly eNewsletter. SIGN UP!