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Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Announces More Than $11.8 Million in Grants to 277 Nonprofits to Support Arts & Cultural Experiences in 2020

Photo Credit: Bob Perkowski

CLEVELAND (November 13, 2019) – Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) will invest $11,800,898 in 277 Cuyahoga County nonprofit organizations in 2020 through its General Operating Support and Project Support grant programs. CAC is one of the largest local public funders of arts and culture in the nation, granting more than $193 million to more than 420 organizations since 2007.

All grants were approved by CAC’s Board of Trustees during a public meeting on Wednesday, November 13th at the Children’s Museum of Cleveland, a General Operating Support grant recipient. CAC’s four board members voted to approve the grants, which were reviewed and scored by a diverse panel of arts and cultural experts in late September.

“Cuyahoga Arts & Culture could not be more excited to support these arts and culture organizations which demonstrate such a strong commitment to strengthening our county through their work,” said Charna E. Sherman, president of CAC’s Board of Trustees. “These organizations touch our residents in every corner of Cuyahoga County. We are grateful to our taxpayers for their belief the arts matter and their support of hundreds of local arts and culture organizations. We continue to be a shining example to the rest of the nation.”

CAC’s General Operating Support program provides unrestricted, multi-year support grants to arts and cultural organizations based in and serving Cuyahoga County. Grants range from $13,000 to $1.1 million and support nonprofits that have a primary mission to provide arts or cultural services for the public. CAC granted a total of $10.2 million to 65 organizations through the General Operating Support grant program for 2020. This year, Art Therapy Studio, Dunham Tavern Museum, Ensemble Theater, and Ingenuity join CAC’s largest funding program.

The Project Support grant program promotes and encourages the breadth of arts and cultural programming in our community by funding projects of all sizes in Cuyahoga County. Grants range from $1,000 to $25,000 and support a variety of programs and events. CAC granted a total of $1,600,898 in Project Support for 2020 to 212 organizations.

“Having a public funding source like Cuyahoga Arts & Culture has been a difference maker for the groups we support, allowing them to take risks with programming and to serve residents,” said Jill M. Paulsen, CAC’s interim CEO + executive director. “We are excited to welcome 20 new nonprofits to CAC’s project support grant program and to continue to support so many groups that make our community a more vibrant place to live and visit.”

In 2020, CAC will also support a number of arts and culture projects led by residents in Cleveland and East Cleveland through a partnership with Neighborhood Connections, the small-grants and community-building program affiliated with the Cleveland Foundation. These projects, which are co-funded by CAC and Neighborhood Connections, give residents the power to positively impact their neighborhoods using arts and culture. Since launching this partnership in 2013, CAC has co-funded 340 projects. View a list of recently co-funded projects.

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) is one of the largest local public funders for arts and culture in the nation, helping hundreds of organizations in Cuyahoga County connect millions of people to cultural experiences each year. Since 2006, CAC has invested more than $193 million in more than 420 organizations both large and small, making our community a more vibrant place to live, work and play. For more information, visit cacgrants.org.

 

 

View a list of the approved grants.

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CAC Staff