This month, on Monday December 14 at 12pm tune in to WPKN 89.5FM our December edition of SPOTLIGHT ON ARTS & CULTURE for "Keeping Arts & Culture Alive After COVID-19".
On November 30, the CT Office of the Arts announced $9 million of relief funds from Federal CARES Act funding to 154 arts nonprofits in the State. Grants ranged from a $5,500 minimum to as much as $551,000, depending on the size of the organization and their success in raising private funds since the beginning of the pandemic.
This is a large amount of money, but what kind of impact will it make and will it save cultural organizations from closing down completely before next summer? How many other arts and culture organizations were not eligible for this grant, and what kinds of life-support are available to keep them alive until audiences can return?
Liz Shapiro, Head of the CT Office of the Arts, will lay out the program for us. How was this fund put together and how was eligibility determined? We will also hear from CT Humanities about the more that $2 million it is dispersing to libraries, museums and historical societies.
State Senator Tony Hwang will comment on his understanding of how arts and culture is an important part of the state's recovery and what more may be required.
And we will hear from three of the recipients of this grant, large and small: INTEMPO (Stamford), The Klein Auditorium (Bridgeport), and The Westport Country Playhouse, as well as from The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk and The Barnum Museum, two institutions not eligible for this grant.
BUT WAIT: if you have questions or comments for our guests about this issue, email them to me ASAP so we can ask them on the show, being recorded Saturday at 10am. Send your questions to: david@culturalalliancefc.org | 
