Vancouver’s arts and culture organizations and businesses can expect an influx of cash from more than $8.4 million in grants approved by the City of Vancouver.
According to a release from the city issued Tuesday, the entire amount of grant money totalling $8,406,150 will be provided to most recipients straight away. Under normal circumstances, the city would award 40 per cent of the grant in January and the rest in April. According to the release the grants will be distributed to a broad range of 144 cultural organizations and nonprofits to cover their core costs, and ensure that they can keep contributing to Vancouver’s cultural scene.
"The arts and culture sector has been deeply impacted by COVID-19 and the City is committed to supporting Vancouver’s artists, creators and cultural organizations through these difficult times,” said Branislav Henselmann, managing director of cultural services at City of Vancouver.
One of the 144 grant recipients is the Indian Summer Arts Society who will receive $35,000 to sustain their arts and culture programming. In response to the COVID-19 Provincial Health Orders, the Indian Summer Arts Society pivoted their annual festival to be entirely virtual. The festival featured predominantly Indigenous, black, and people of colour artists and reached audiences across six continents and 45 countries.
“We are grateful to the City for continuing to prioritize arts organizations during this pandemic year, recognizing that the arts are as needed as ever to imagine, narrate, and build the world we want to grow — not back to what was, but to what we might become,” said Laura June Albert, grants and community initiatives manager for the Indian Summer Arts Society.
“Annual assistance keeps the lights on, paying the costs of unsexy things, like the equipment and people we need in order to function as an organization," Albert continued.
Another group that will benefit from the newly approved grant money is the Pacific Legal Education and Outreach Society. PLEO is set to receive $15,000 to continue offering resources, workshops, and clinics for low-income artists throughout British Columbia and across Canada.
Martha Rans, founder and legal director of PLEO says the money will ensure the organization can continue to provide Vancouver's struggling arts and culture sector free programs and resources.
For the details of the grants you can visit the City of Vancouver’s website.
