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Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) Issues First Grants: 68 Groups to Benefit from $15 million

Photo Credit: Bob Perkowski

Cuyahoga Art and Culture (CAC) Issues First Grants: 68 Groups to Benefit from $15 million

Cleveland (November 30, 2007) -- Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) announced today that it is awarding $15 million in General Operating Support (GOS) grants to 68 area arts and cultural organizations. These are the first grants issued by CAC, Cuyahoga County’s regional arts and culture district. The grantee organizations are from communities throughout Cuyahoga County and represent a diverse group of arts and cultural disciplines and budget sizes.

CAC’s Board of Trustees approved the grants today at a special meeting. “Cuyahoga County has tremendous arts and cultural organizations and we are excited to be able to award grants to so many outstanding groups. They represent the best of what Cuyahoga County has to offer,” said Steven Minter, President of the Board of Trustees of CAC.

Catherine Boyle, Executive Director of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture said, “We expect the grants to have a major impact on strengthening one of our region’s greatest assets. Our 68 grantees have been approved for three years of funding subject to compliance with the grant terms and submission of annual financial information and evaluation reports. These GOS grants will provide much-needed core support to our high quality arts and cultural organizations, “Boyle added.

Organizations competed in a public panel review of their applications. An outside panel of experts then made recommendations to the CAC Board that these 68 organizations be approved for GOS funding. Organizations receiving awards ranged in size, with annual budgets from under $25,000 to over $45 million per year. Of the 68 grantees, one-half (34) were from smaller community-based organizations with annual budgets of less than $500,000, and approximately one-third have budgets of less than $200,000.

The Cuyahoga County Commissioners established Cuyahoga Arts and Culture CAC, a Regional Arts and Culture District and a political subdivision of the State of Ohio, in June 2005. In November, 2006, voters in Cuyahoga County approved a tax on cigarettes to fund arts and culture through CAC. It is the second Regional Arts and Culture District in the State of Ohio and the first with a dedicated revenue stream.

CAC is now one of the largest local public sector funders of arts and culture in the country. A primary purpose of CAC, established by the board of trustees, is to make matching grants to nonprofit organizations located in Cuyahoga County that have a primary mission of arts or culture or that have a proven history of arts or cultural programming.

Funds for CAC’s Grant Programs are generated by a tobacco excise tax and based solely on the annual revenues collected from the excise tax. CAC recognizes that proceeds from tobacco sales are declining and it expects its annual funds to decrease.
Applications for CAC’s second grant program, Project Support, will be due February 27, 2008. Also determined through a competitive process, PS grants will be awarded in June, 2008.

List of GOS Grantees

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CAC Staff