UtahOrganizations to Receive Stimulus Funds for Employment:
ARRA Grants provide funding for lost or at-risk jobs in Utah’s arts
sector
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – At 7:00 a.m. this morning, the Utah Division of
Arts and Museums and the Utah Arts Council Board of Directors released a
list of 14 arts organizations awarded federal stimulus funding to
reinstate jobs that were lost or preserve positions at risk of
elimination due to the economic downturn. This funding will save or
restore jobs in Cedar City, Logan, Moab, Ogden, Orem, and Salt Lake
City.
“While making the calls to notify organizations of their status –
whether or not they would receive funding – it struck me just how
important this funding is to many Utah organizations. These grants will
not only secure someone’s job going into the fall and winter or
restart the flow of much needed income to a family household, but they
also inject a renewed sense of optimism for the future,” said Margaret
Hunt, director of the Utah Division of Arts and Museums.
The funding awards announced today were allotted for in the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which was designed to
encourage and support the economic recovery of the United States.
Through an optional fund accessible to state agencies as part of this
granting process, the Division was able to recoup $40,000 in funding to
support two folk arts staff positions lost earlier in 2009 due to
statewide budget cuts. As a result, through the Utah Division of Arts
and Museums, the Utah Arts Council applied for and received the maximum
amount the state was eligible to request: $301,000.
In May of 2009, Utah arts organizations were contacted by the Division
and invited to apply for ARRA grants in amounts ranging from $10,000 to
$25,000. An advisory panel, composed of seven community members and a
representative of the Utah Arts Council Board of Directors, reviewed
each application. With the purpose of ARRA grants explicitly tied to the
retention of positions in-jeopardy or the restoration of lost jobs, the
grant review panel included an experienced human resources
representative from a Utah business, as well as community
representatives from across the state.
Criteria used to weigh the applications included: the quality and
breadth of compelling evidence indicating job loss, the completeness of
the application, the professional nature of the organization; the impact
of the position on both the organization and the greater arts work
force; as well as the feasibility of the proposed plan to fund the
position after the ARRA funding was spent.
“In difficult economic times, it's tempting to cut staff because –
for most arts organization and museums like Treehouse Children's Museum
– that's where the bulk of the expenses are. But cutting staff
positions means the remaining staff have even more responsibilities with
even fewer resources available. Eventually you lose trained and creative
staff, and ultimately the quality of the experience provided to patrons
begins to suffer,” said Lynne Goodwin, executive director of the
Elizabeth Stewart Treehouse Children's Museum in Ogden.
The following organizations will receive funding for jobs through the
state-level grants program:
CedarCity
UtahShakespearean Festival, Southern Utah University
$25,000 for the positions of Scenery Director and Assistant Box Office
Manager
Logan
Alliancefor the Varied Arts
$15,000 for the Marketing Coordinator
CacheValley Centerfor the Arts
$10,000 for the position of Marketing Director
Moab
MoabMusic Festival
$10,000 for the Executive Director, Administrative Box Office Manager,
External Relations Manager, Operations Director, Assistant Operations
Director, Music Director, and Artistic Director positions
Ogden
Elizabeth Stewart Treehouse Children's Museum
$25,000 for our position of Education Coordinator
Orem
City of Orem: Timpanogos Storytelling Festival
$15,000 for the position of Outreach Services Assistant
Salt Lake City
Kingsbury Hall, University of Utah
$25,000 for our Education and Outreach Coordinator
Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT)
$15,000 for the positions of nine dancers
Ririe-Woodbury Dance Foundation
$25,000 for the position of Assistant Touring Manager
Plan-B Theatre Company
$13,000 for the positions of Managing Director and Producing Director
Salt Lake Acting Company
$25,000 for the position of Executive Artistic Director
SaltLake Art Center
$25,000 for a full-time Curator of Education
Tanner Dance Program, University of Utah
$13,000 for five part-time teaching positions
UtahSymphony & Opera
$10,000 for five resident artist positions and restore four resident
artist positions
“We are just thrilled to receive this grant,” said Louise Wallace
of the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. “We are so grateful to the
Utah Arts Council for administering the program and awarding this grant.
These funds will be critical to the cultural arts programming that we
provide the community. This is programming that makes a real difference
in people’s lives and their quality of living.”
ARRA funds will be available beginning October 1, 2009. For further
information on the complete grant program, please visit the National
Endowment for the Arts website at www.arts.gov ( http://www.arts.gov/ ).
For more information on the grants distributed in Utah, please contact
Katie Woslager, Grants and Endowment Manager, at kwoslager@utah.gov or
801.236.7550.
The Utah Arts Council is housed within the Division of Arts and
Museums. The Division is part of the Utah Department of Community and
Culture and promotes innovation in and the growth of Utah’s arts,
cultural, and museum community. Visit us at www.artsandmuseums.utah.gov
or call 801.236.7555.
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