Gov. Reynolds Announces COVID-19 Arts & Cultural Recovery Program

Gov. Kim Reynolds has allocated $7 million of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs to provide economic relief to Iowa’s arts and culture industry.

The Iowa Arts & Cultural Recovery Program will be administered by the Iowa Arts Council and the State Historical Society of Iowa, divisions of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.

The Iowa Arts & Culture Recovery Program will provide relief grants ranging from $1,000 to $250,000 for arts and cultural organizations struggling to make up for reduced admissions, ticket sales, and other revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program also will provide relief grants for eligible Iowa artists who are experiencing financial hardship and can demonstrate lost revenue and/or increased expenditures due to the ongoing public health emergency.

Nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, for-profit music venues, governmental and college/university cultural venues, and individual artists whose regular operations have been interrupted due to the pandemic may apply until Dec. 11, 2020.

Grant funds may be used to offset lost revenue from closures, canceled events or business interruptions and applied to the costs of facilities, payroll and other eligible expenses incurred between March 1, 2020, and Dec. 30, 2020. Grant funds also may be used for expenses associated with reopening, adopting COVID-19 cleaning and safety measures, or adapting programs to virtual formats.

Grant applications and a full list of eligibility requirements can be found online at
iowaculture.gov. To help explain the application guidelines, the Iowa Arts Council will host two audience-based webinars for applicants this Friday, Dec. 4.

• 10-11 a.m. for Nonprofit Cultural Organizations, Live Music & Government Cultural Venues: Register for the webinar. 
  
• ?2-3 p.m. for Individual Artists:  Register for the webinar. 
  

The Iowa Arts Council staff also will be available to answer questions during virtual office hours Dec. 7-11. Application questions should be directed to Veronica O’Hern, the Iowa Arts Council’s grant services and artist program manager, at veronica.ohern@iowa.gov.

• The nonprofit arts, entertainment and recreation sector is one of the industries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to research conducted by the Iowa Economic Development Authority and University of Northern Iowa.
  

• Iowa’s nonprofit arts and culture industry has lost hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue since the pandemic began, according to an American for the Arts survey of more than 350 Iowa arts and cultural organizations.
  

• In a typical year, Iowa’s creative sector accounts for 2.3 percent of the state’s economy, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Iowa’s arts, culture, history and creative industries, including film and media, together employ more than 42,000 Iowans working in more than 5,000 nonprofit and for-profit businesses.