CMW receives State Arts Council support

(Providence, RI – July 17, 2011) Thousands of artists will be employed in the coming year in projects supported by grants from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, according to an announcement released by the State Arts Council today about its first round of grant awards for the 11-12 season. These grants, funded through an appropriation from the Rhode Island General Assembly and with federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, support projects by individual artists, arts organizations, schools and educational organizations in communities throughout the state.

The State Arts Council awarded a total of $780,250 to 125 non-profit organizations, schools and individuals for art and arts programming across Rhode Island in this latest round of grants. In announcing the awards, Council director Randall Rosenbaum underscored the impact of these grants on the Rhode Island economy. “Our grantees tell us that over 20,000 artists will be employed with support from these grants, and that over 1.58 million Rhode Islanders and visitors to our state will benefit from these projects. These preliminary figures are significant, and demonstrate a great return on a very tiny investment from state and federal resources.”
 
The grant awards break down as follows: $40,000 to 19 individual artists, $125,000 to 54 non-profit organizations for programming, $52,500 to 16 schools and non-profit organizations for arts education programs, and $514,000 to 19 major arts and cultural organizations. For a complete list of grant recipients, visit the Arts Council’s website at http://www.arts.ri.gov/grants/recent.