Earlier today, it was announced that the city of Atlanta will soon be one of seven new cities to be included in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Arts Grant Program.
According to the New York Times, “Bloomberg is investing $43 million in more than 200 small and midsize cultural organizations” in the cities of Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburg, and Washington. These cities were chosen in particular due to their ever-growing presence and facilitation of local arts and culture.
These seven cities join the list of many others, who back in 2015, received $30 million in grants to 262 art organizations from Bloomberg’s Arts Innovation and Management program. Kate Levin, who resides over the art programs at Bloomberg believes that small and midsize organizations are often overlooked due to their size but contribute just as much good to their overall communities as those on a larger scale do.
Organizations are encouraged to reply by invitation only. If granted support, the Bloomberg grant would cover about 10 percent of their annual operating budgets and provide them with arts-management training to establish a solid grasp on how to market themselves, acquire a good board, and better their planning and fund-raising skills. Once they’ve been completely immersed in training and have been given the tools they need to succeed, each organization is asked to match 20 percent of however much money they are given. In the past, three-fourths of organizations wound up making more than 20 percent goal, giving the Arts Innovation and Management program a sense of validation for the work they’re doing.
Although no detailed list of which Atlanta based organizations will be included in the grant has yet been released, there is no doubt that the city will begin to reap the benefits of the grant within the expanse of our vast local theatrical, musical, and artful communities.