COVID-19 Relief & Recovery
As the COVID-19 crisis began to unfold in the capital region, the creative sector was rocked by the new, uncertain reality of the pandemic. As soon as March 2020, the Arts Council was asked by Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, to gather information to understand the impact the unfolding crisis would have on the arts and cultural community. We quickly developed and distributed a survey to gather the data, which showed that arts and cultural institutions in Hartford would lose more than $7.7M in just 90 days, thousands of events would be cancelled for our community and many organizations would be unlikely to survive extended closures.
Those results, which were shared with the Mayor, State and regional organizations, as well as Americans for the Arts to complement their nationwide survey, underscored the immediate and critical needs of the arts and cultural community and why your continued support is vital. Since this very first survey, those numbers and losses have increased significantly as the pandemic continued to rage in our region and in the world.
Supporting the Arts in 2020: The Numbers
164 grants awarded to artists and organizations
53,000 pieces of PPE distributed
$46,000 provided in support of virtual events
$443,000 in emergency relief and recovery funding awarded
Early in 2020, the Arts Council was also asked to join on of the City’s taskforce to think about safety in the sector and reopening's strategies alongside community leaders. This taskforce made informed recommendations to the City.
In parallel, the Arts Council started to lead bi-weekly meetings with arts organizations of all sizes as well as funders and other art and culture partners. These calls, hold on Zoom, aimed to provide the sector’s actors with a platform to discuss, experiment, collaborate in the new reality created by the pandemic. These calls have led to wonderful collaborations, increased solidarity between organizations and individuals and durable networking. Asked to complete a survey at the end of 2020, participating organizations unanimously elected to maintain these monthly calls and praised the network born out of this initiative. These meetings have since formalized and continue to bring dozens of arts leaders together each month.
As the health situation worsened, and the necessary social distancing and closures were put in place and extended, the Arts Council reacted quickly and developed several relief and recovery funds with a variety of partners, such as Travelers, the HFPG or individual donors:
Back in Business
The Back in Business Grant program, made possible by support from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, supported the safe reopening of the arts sector for arts organization employees, artists, and the public. Awards were used on expenses related to reopening arts organizations, increasing audience capacity to pre-pandemic levels, and for individual artists to restart art workshops and other artistic engagements with the public.
Artist Emergency Relief
The Artist Emergency Relief grant program was designed to assist artists of all disciplines with loss of income from COVID-19 and help cover their most pressing financial needs including food, housing and basic necessities. As studies have shown disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on communities of color, half of the total funding in this program was dedicated specifically to support artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or persons of color. Thanks to the additional support of individual donors, the GHAC was able to organize two rounds of funding in 2020, distributing 133 grants of $500.
Musician Relief
This grant was designed to assist musicians with loss of income from the ongoing COVID-19 crisis: Recouping financial loss due to canceled Events: including performances, teaching gigs, and festival/fairs.
Studies have shown disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on communities of color, therefore, 50% of the total funding for the Musician Emergency Relief Grant program is specifically reserved to support musicians who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or persons of color.
The Musician Relief Grants were made possible by Keith and Catherine Stevenson, Basileus Music and the Diamond family, and generous supporters of the Arts Council.
Small Organization Recovery
The Small Organization Recovery grant program aided small nonprofit arts organizations during the Covid-19 crisis. The Arts Council recognizes the importance of helping sustain these organizations, which are critically important to our community and often serve some of the most vulnerable populations. We were able to distribute 41 grants in 2020.
PPE Distribution Fund
In partnership with the City of Hartford with funding from the Hartford Foundation for Public giving, the Arts Council purchased and distributed $90,000 worth of Personal Protective Equipment to help support safe reopening strategies for arts organization staff, artists, and the public.
A Virtual Summer in the City
Every year, thousands of people from around the region and beyond gather together for the annual Summer in the City celebrations. Our parks and streets come alive with art, music and cultural festivals that celebrate our vibrancy and diversity. In 2020, while the pandemic caused the postponement or virtual transformation of nearly all Summer events, civil rights protests reaffirmed the need for these celebrations to highlight what makes our city and our people great.
Together with the City of Hartford, we were proud to provide support and advice to our event organizers as they created alternate plans to continue to serve their communities, despite not being able to put on their typical large-scale celebrations. We helped them develop a series of programming that could be viewed safely from home. We can’t wait to celebrate all that our city has to offer, together.
Puerto Rican Day Parade: My 2020 Census/Censo Caravana | GHFJ Virtual Jazz Fest 2020 | Taste of the Caribbean & Jerk Fest Video Recap | Greater Hartford West Indian Independence Celebration Virtual Event | Hartford PrideFest Virtual Pride | Riverfront Recapture Virtual Hartbeat Musical Festival and Hartbeat Sessions
Creating Opportunity with Neighborhood Studios
Neighborhood Studios, our arts apprenticeship program for area teens, provided in-depth instruction in a specific artistic medium and career-skills training that readies youth for today’s creative workforce. During the summer of 2020, apprentices came together virtually to create art during a global pandemic. The theme of Neighborhood Studios 2020 was Power. Apprentices approached the theme with both grace and resilience, produced stunning work, and formed lasting connections.