Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund: Mid-year status update

By Katrina DeBerry, program officer

As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more available, the region’s arts sector is starting to recover from the pandemic’s impact. While times are still hard, more and more organizations are beginning to offer virtual and socially distanced programming. At the Community Foundation, we’ve been listening and talking with arts leaders to understand how we can best support the sector’s short and long-term needs during this difficult time.

To aid in short-term recovery, we will be conducting a summer grant cycle through the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund. Priority will be given to organizations that:

• Emphasize diversity, racial equity and inclusion in artistic and organizational practices
• Demonstrate innovation to make arts available to community members
• Have efforts that contribute toward recovery and long-term sustainability of the arts and culture community post COVID-19

Note: This 2021 Arts Fund cycle will distribute $465,000 in one-year general operating support grants. Individual grants will not exceed $50,000.

A simplified Arts Fund application will be available on Monday, June 28, with a deadline of Friday, July 16. If you are interested, join us for an informational webinar on Tuesday, July 6 at 10 a.m. Register for the webinar here. Learn more and read the program guidelines here.

We are all still learning. As we listen to artists across our dynamic region, it’s also become crystal clear that the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund needs to evolve to support Atlanta’s regional arts sector and our community. Much of 2021 has been spent on this evolution and ways that the program can drive long-term equity in the arts. We honor the historical legacy of the Arts Fund and look forward to supporting Atlanta’s arts community in better, more impactful ways for many years to come.

We cannot do this alone, and we need community voices at the table. To date, we’ve conducted a number of listening sessions with arts funders, stakeholders and leaders, and several more are planned. We’re still in the midst of this journey and we thank those that have lent us their time and expertise along the way.

We are grateful to recent funders like the Coca-Cola Company and MacKenzie Scott who see the potential of the Arts Fund as an equity catalyst and have invested with us. Stay tuned – more information about support for equity in the arts will be coming this fall.

About the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund
The Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund supports and provides resources to strengthen independent small- and medium-sized arts organizations with annual operating budgets under $2 million located throughout Foundation’s 23-county service area. The Arts Fund provides general operating support for programming and operations to increase public engagement with, and access to, various forms of art across the region. This program supports the creation of art within metro Atlanta’s arts and culture ecosystem, as well as the utilization of the arts to amplify and activate community voice, strengthen the regional economy and foster an environment of learning in the arts at all stages of life.

Photo courtesy of Dance Canvas, Inc. and Atlanta Contemporary; Artist: Thulani Vereen