Second Round of Recover Forward Programming Grants for the Arts Announced

​As part of Mayor John Hamilton’s initiative to Recover Forward from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association (BUEA) has awarded a second round of grant funding to cultural organizations and artists that foster the arts and nurture communities.  During this round, $42,600 has been awarded to the following 25 grant recipients--representing a range from visual arts and letters to music and theater--that have availed themselves of online, digital, and other platforms to provide arts and cultural opportunities to residents over the next six to eight months: ​

Abattoir Gallery $1250
The Backdoor Bloomington $3000 
Bloom Magazine $2500
Bloomington Bach Cantata Project  $1500
Bloomington Bridges Musical Youth Organization $1250
Bloomington Chamber Opera $1000  
Bloomington Early Music Festival $1250
Cardinal Stage $2250 
FAR Center for Contemporary Arts $1000
Fourth Street Festival for the Arts $1750
Gallery Walk Bloomington $2000 
Midway Music Speaks $2500 
Violins over Violence Music Program $1000 
Heartland Community Reconciliation Center $1250 
Las Aves $1000 
Lotus Education and Arts Foundation $1850 
Minka Wiltz Sings Out Of Bounds Opera $1150
New Voices Opera $1000
Pictura Gallery $1250 
Shakespeare’s Ear $1250
Stages Bloomington $3000
The Americas Chamber Orchestra $1500
The Comedy Attic $3000
The Ryder Magazine and Film Series $2000
Writers Guild of Bloomington $2100
 
“Bloomington’s ability to Recover Forward must encompass the arts organizations that make such a significant contribution to our city’s identity, our economy, and our collective benefit,” said Mayor John Hamilton.  “We know the pandemic has dramatically changed their ability to reach audiences and generate income, which makes more important than ever the support of these groups in their nimble transitions to new delivery models.”
 
This latest round of arts funding follows the BUEA’s Recover Forward Fall Grants totaling $48,000 to 21 arts and cultural-based organizations and artists to sustain arts and cultural programming during the fall of 2020 and into 2021.   Since March 2020, the BUEA has been working alongside the Economic Stabilization and Recovery Working Group (ES&R), convened by Mayor Hamilton to oversee the City’s response to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, an effort that has evolved into the City’s multi-year Recover Forward initiative. 
 
ES&R has also been identifying local economic impacts, business needs, resources, and gaps; establishing a mechanism for providing local government funding relief and wraparound services; and facilitating community partnerships. ES&R is administering the Rapid Response Fund, which has provided much-needed support to local businesses in Bloomington over the past few months. The ES&R Working Group includes local community leaders representing the City’s Department of Economic and Sustainable Development, the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation, the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, Dimension Mill, Inc., and CFDI Friendly Bloomington.  
 
Additional resources for arts organizations, businesses, individuals, and those wishing to provide assistance are listed at the websites of the City of Bloomington and the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.