$450K In Covid Relief Awarded To 25 Cambridge Cultural Organizations
25 cultural nonprofits active in Cambridge have been awarded funding totaling $450,000 for Covid-19 relief. Applicants were eligible for up to $30,000 each via the Create Cambridge: Arts Nonprofit Recovery Grant from the City of Cambridge (managed by
Cambridge Arts and the city’s Community Development Department), in partnership with the
Create Cambridge cultural nonprofit coalition, with funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
“Though we're nearly five years past the start of Covid related closures and shutdowns, this financial support remains more vital than ever to arts organizations,” says Maggie Moore Abdow, Central Square Theater Director of Development and a Founding Member of Create Cambridge. “The arts and culture sector has yet to resume to pre-pandemic operating levels. This challenge is largely due to diminished and slow return of audiences and patrons; diminished contributed income; and operating costs that have steadily increased and outpaced organizations' ability to offset with earned and contributed income.”
Massachusetts arts and cultural organizations suffered losses of more than $30 million in revenue during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Mass Cultural Council Covid impact survey. Of all the communities in the state, Cambridge is second only to Boston in total lost revenue. (
https://massculturalcouncil.org/blog/new-covid-impact-data-outlines-ongoing-financial-hardship-across-cultural-sector/)
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the City of Cambridge has committed extra resources to helping our arts and cultural community. The City of Cambridge maintained and increased existing arts funding while also identifying new and innovative ways to utilize city, state and federal ARPA support to both strengthen and increase the resiliency of local artists and arts and cultural nonprofits serving Cambridge residents and audiences. This increased investment and ongoing support is a recognition and confirmation of the strength, vibrancy, and positive impact that arts and culture have on the lives of Cambridge residents and those visiting and spending time in the city.
Organizations receiving Create Cambridge: Arts Nonprofit Recovery Grants:
• Boston Chamber Music Society
• Boston Early Music Festival, Inc.
• Brattle Film Foundation
• Cambridge Art Association
• Cambridge Carnival International, Inc.
• Cambridge Center for Adult Education
• Cambridge Children's Chorus
• Cambridge Community Chorus
• Central Square Business Improvement District
• Central Square Theater
• Chinese American Association of Cambridge, Inc.
• Community Art Center, Inc.
• History Cambridge
• José Mateo Ballet Theatre
• Liars and Believers
• Maria L. Baldwin Community Center & Maud Morgan Arts Center
• Ming Hui Academy Boston
• Musica Sacra
• New Acropolis
• The New Dance Complex Inc
• New School of Music
• North Cambridge Family Opera
• Passim
• St. Paul's Choir School
• Sarasa, Inc