Title
Phoenix Arts and Culture Recovery Program (Ordinance S-47819)
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to enter into grant agreements with nonprofit arts and culture organizations, individual artists, and professional consultants throughout the City of Phoenix. Further authorize the City Treasurer to accept, and the City Controller to disburse, the funds for purposes of this ordinance. The total value of the agreements will not exceed $5,000,000. There is no impact to the General Fund. Funding is available through the City's allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding received from the federal government and is under the City's Phoenix Arts, Business, and Employee Program category of the strategic plan.
Report
Summary
The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture developed a recovery plan to help support nonprofit arts and culture organizations and artists still hurting financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program also funds a mix of workforce and economic development initiatives and community programs.
Program elements include:
Nonprofit Arts and Culture Stabilization Grants
Grants would provide funding to Phoenix nonprofit arts and culture organizations of all sizes to manage their operations, personnel as they welcome back audiences, guests, and patrons to their programs. Grants will be adjudicated through an application process.
Artist to Work Initiative
This program will enable the City to contract artists to develop art projects, installations, and performances in communities that receive limited funding from the public sector. Projects would activate a wide range of public spaces, including parks, trails, community centers, and neighborhood areas not usually defined or programmed as cultural spaces. The program will be adjudicated through the RFQ process.
Arts Career Advancement Grants
Grants will help support working artists or arts workers who have experienced job loss, indefinitely postponed or canceled events and residencies, or terminated contracts because of the pandemic. Funding not only can cover lost income but also offer support to grow their artistic and business skills. Grants will be adjudicated through an application process.
Arts and Culture Internships
This program would allow nonprofit arts and culture organizations to hire full-time interns versus contract or for-credit stipends. In addition, the internships provide Phoenix undergraduate students with meaningful on-the-job training and experience working in the cultural sector. The program will be adjudicated through an application process.
Technical Assistance and Outreach
Funds will continue the work done with trainings, workshops, professional development and resources for the field in areas like financial sustainability, business practices and reopening strategies. Funds also will be used to hire contractors to help support projects and conduct special outreach to ensure equitable distribution of resources in the community.
Financial Impact
Funding for these programs will not exceed $5,000,000. There is no impact to the General Fund. Funding is available through the City's allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding received from the federal government and is under the City's Phoenix Arts, Business, and Employee Program category of the strategic plan. The funding breakdown is as follows:
Nonprofit Arts and Culture Stabilization Grants: $2,750,000
Artists to Work Initiative: $1,000,000
Arts Career Advancement Grants: $500,000
Arts and Culture Internships: $500,000
Arts Technical Assistance and Outreach: $250,000
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
The Mayor and Council discussed and approved the plan to implement the $5,000,000 Phoenix Arts and Culture Recovery Program at its Policy Session on June 8, 2021 by a vote of 7-2.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Inger Erickson and the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture.