Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Arts Council has awarded more than $40,000 thus far in emergency relief to individual artists whose livelihoods were significantly and adversely affected by the summer’s downpours that flooded basements, homes, and studios.
A total of 21 eligible applications were received during the first round of the Council’s special flood relief grant program. The Council was able to offer at least partial funding to all eligible applicants, a total of $35,259 in grants.
In addition, a special grant of $5,000 was awarded to Clemmons Family Farm to distribute funding directly to impacted artists in its Vermont African American/African Diaspora Artists Network.
The support is an integral piece of the Council's funding focus on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access, and helps to ensure that emergency funds reach the historically under-resourced artists who most need it.
Thanks to the generosity of private donors, with additional partnership from Burlington City Arts, the Council’s flood relief grant program was initiated quickly in response to the floods of July 9-10, which were some of the most significant days of flooding in the state’s history.
Additional private donations made in early August have allowed the program to re-open.
The program offers individual artists grants of up to $3,000 to cover damaged tools, materials, and/or equipment related to their art practice or artistic business; lost revenue due to canceled shows, events, exhibitions, road closures, or vehicle damage; and damage to studio space requiring repairs.
Artists were affected across many domains, including crafts, visual arts, and performing arts—artists such as Trevor Corp of Wolcott who maintained a painting studio at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, which was completely inundated by the July 10 floodwaters. Corp was only able to recover a few paintings hanging high enough on the walls above the deluge.
Corp received a $3,000 flood relief grant to cover the cost of materials and equipment replacement.
“My goal with this grant is to reinvest in supplies so I can begin to rebuild my practice," he said.
The Council continues to fundraise for direct artist relief to meet both the urgent and long-term needs of Vermont’s arts and culture sector, which was devastated by the pandemic and then by the flooding.
“Vermont artists are facing unprecedented challenges during this summer’s extreme weather,” said Vermont Arts Council Executive Director Susan Evans McClure. “It is crucial for the Vermont Arts Council and Vermont’s philanthropic community to support the state’s creative sector as we work to recover together.”
Applications for the flood relief funding will be accepted on a rolling basis and will remain open until funds are exhausted.
The flood relief grants are a part of the Council’s Artist Development Grant program, which is currently open and accepting applications with deadlines of Sept. 26, 2023, and Jan. 14, 2024. Artist Development Grants support artists at all stages of their careers. Grants can fund activities that enhance mastery of an artist’s craft or skills or that increase the viability of an artist's business. Funding may also support aspects of the creation of new work when the activity allows the grantee to accept a rare and important opportunity.
For more information about the flood relief grant program, visit www.vermontartscouncil.org/artistfloodrelief
About the Vermont Arts Council
The Vermont Arts Council envisions a Vermont where all people have access to the arts and creativity in their lives, education, and communities. Engagement with the arts transforms individuals, connects us more deeply to each other, energizes the economy, and sustains the vibrant cultural landscape that makes Vermont a great place to live. Since 1965, the Council has been the state's primary provider of funding, advocacy, and information for the arts in Vermont. Learn more at www.vermontartscouncil.org
Source: 8.23.2023. MONTPELIER—Vermont Arts Council
