County gets $200K of grants for 13 arts organizations

By Kirk Boxleitner
Posted 5/28/24

 

 

Arts across Washington are set to receive a significant financial boost, and more than a dozen programs in Jefferson County can expect to share the benefits.

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County gets $200K of grants for 13 arts organizations

Posted

 

 

Arts across Washington are set to receive a significant financial boost, and more than a dozen programs in Jefferson County can expect to share the benefits.

More than 60% of Washington arts organizations report not only that their ticket sales remain 23% below their pre-COVID levels, but also that their costs are up between 15% to 50% from before to the pandemic.

According to ArtsFund and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, these are the reasons they announced, on May 21, that they would be providing $10 million in unrestricted funding to 811 Washington arts and culture organizations, through the Community Accelerator Grant program.

After the ArtsFund program’s pilot investment provided $10 million to 671 Washington arts and culture organizations in 2023, its second year saw 93% of those pilot grantees reapplying, along with a nearly 30% increase in the total number of grantees.

With participation increasing from every corner of the state, 13 local organizations in Jefferson County are set to receive a shared total of $200,000 in funds, with the individual grants averaging $15,384 per organization.

Jefferson County grant sizes for 2024 start at $7,500 for the Olympic Music Festival at the Wheeler Theater in Fort Worden State Park.

The majority of Jefferson County grants for 2024 are $12,500 to be awarded to Centrum, Copper Canyon Press and the Port Townsend School of Woodworking as well as the Jefferson County Historical Society, the Port Townsend Film Festival, and Northwind Art.

Also set to receive grants of $12,500 each are the Port Townsend Creative District, which includes parts of the city’s downtown, uptown and Fort Worden, as well as the Midsummer Musical Retreat Society.

The Wooden Boat Foundation has been selected to receive $17,500, just as grants of $25,000 each have been designated to be awarded to the Key City Players, the Mythsinger Legacy Project and the Songwriting Works Educational Foundation.

Community Accelerator Grant funding is set to go to every eligible group that applied, which includes organizations in 37 of Washington’s 39 counties, and those unrestricted funds may be used as each organization determines, with 85% of those organizations reporting their top needs as programming, salaries, and labor.