AMERICAN RECOVERY & REINVESTMENT ACT

The Delaware Division of the Arts received $290,400 from the National Endowment for the Arts, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Thirteen Delaware organization were awarded grants through highly competitive state, regional, and national application processes. These grants will support 14 jobs in the arts sector, critical to the mission of their respective organizations.

For a list of the recipients, download the report at (http://www.artsdel.org/grants/DE_ARRA_Awards.pdf)

What is ARRA?

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) includes the arts among industries to be supported with federal economic stimulus dollars. This legislation allocated $50 million to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to "preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support" during the current economic downturn. $20 million of those funds were allocated to the state arts agencies (like the Delaware Division of the Arts) and regional arts organizations (like the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation) for distribution, while $30 million was distributed through direct NEA grants.

How can these awards be used?

These one-year, one-time grants are limited to salary support for existing positions that are in jeopardy or have been eliminated recently as a result of the current economic climate.

What was the application process?

The Delaware Division of the Arts managed a statewide application process open to all arts organizations and state agency partners that are current recipients of Division grant support. This mirrored the NEA's eligibility requirements to ensure a timely review and distribution of funding by "obligating funds to existing award recipients with the demonstrated ability to deliver the results and accountability objectives."

An ARRA grants committee of the Delaware State Arts Council reviewed all of the applications, measuring each against established criteria designed within parameters outlined by the NEA. Committee recommendations were approved by the full State Arts Council following careful deliberations.

A few organizations were eligible to apply directly to the federal and regional agencies, as well as the Delaware Division, but grants could only be accepted from a single ARRA funding source.

In a highly competitive process, how were recipients selected?

Delaware Division of the Arts was awarded $290,400 by the NEA to regrant to Delaware organizations. The application process yielded 30 applications with requests totaling nearly $1 million. Successful applicants demonstrated that:

• the position provided a critical service to the organization's core mission and services
• the organization had a broad and significant impact on its community and/or the economy
• funding would either restore a recently suspended position or preserve one facing imminent suspension due to budget cuts
• the organization's staffing needs were consistent with the financial situation presented in other grant application materials

What were the results?

The Division awarded $290,400 in grants to 11 organizations, supporting 14 positions in the arts sector of the economy. Additionally, the National Endowment for the Arts and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundations awarded one grant each in Delaware, representing another $80,000 and preserving two more positions in our state.