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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Jane Eklund
Programs Information Officer
N.H. State Council on the Arts
603-271-0791
jane.eklund@dcr.nh.gov

ARRA GRANTS SUPPORTING 42 N.H. ARTS JOBS

Forty-two jobs at 12 N.H. music, theater and visual arts and crafts organizations have been preserved through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and distributed through the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.

Governor John Lynch and the Executive Council approved the Arts Jobs grants Wednesday.

“We are very pleased that in a small way we have been able to help save jobs in New Hampshire’s vital arts community,” said Department of Cultural Resources Commissioner Van McLeod. “These organizations are an important part of not only their communities’ well being but the state’s as well. They provide a major economic engine that will help us all as we work our way out of these difficult economic times.”

The State Arts Council received $293,100 in grants to save jobs in the arts workforce.  The funds are part of a $19.8 million appropriation funded through ARRA. The NEA awarded the funds directly to state and regional arts agencies to respond to the unique needs of arts organizations around the country that are struggling to remain viable in the economic downturn. In New Hampshire, the first round of funds, a total of $230,000, were awarded by the State Arts Council through a competitive grant program called Arts Jobs: Putting New Hampshire to Work.

Forty-two organizations applied for the grants; the following received funding through Arts Jobs:

• Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire, Littleton, $20,000
• The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, $20,000
• Friends of the Arts Plymouth, $20,000
• Friends of the Colonial, Bethlehem, $20,000
• Haverhill Heritage, Inc., Haverhill, $20,000
• League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, Concord, $20,000
• Monadnock Music, Peterborough, $20,000
• N.H. Theatre Project, Portsmouth, $20,000
• North Country Center for the Arts, Lincoln, $20,000
• Prescott Park Arts Festival, Portsmouth, $20,000
• Saint Kieran Community Center, Berlin, $10,000
• Sharon Arts Center, Sharon, $20,000

The NEA also offered direct grants to eligible cultural organizations.
The Currier Museum in Manchester received a $50,000 NEA grant to support job retention in the arts workforce.

The NEA Web site offers a Recovery page at www.arts.gov/recovery with updates on Recovery grants, agency reports, and other information.

 Last updated: October 19, 2010