About:

Northwest CT Arts Council recently received $150,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts to aid in the region's recovery from the effects of COVID-19. They will reallocate those funds through two different subgranting programs (Creative Partnerships grants and Access grants) open to eligible recipients in their 25 town service area.

Creative Partnerships grants will provide funding for collaborative efforts/exchanges between eligible entities. Creative Partnerships grants are not exclusively for new projects. They can also be given for extensions or more meaningful realizations of existing programs. The goal is NOT to force entities into engineering unsustainable programs. Quite the opposite. We hope that this opportunity will encourage applicants to seek out partnerships and innovative solutions that will increase the likelihood of sustained growth and impact. This program is about connecting the arts and culture sector to untapped resources within the arts and culture community AND to resources that exist beyond their sector that can promote and support the arts, and engage our communities more fully and purposefully. 

We want to invest in the arts community, their recovery from the effects of COVID-19, and continued growth in order to:

1. Leverage the restorative power of the arts to support the holistic health of our region.
2. Improve access to and engagement with the arts - specifically amongst underserved populations (those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by ethnicity, economics, geography, or disability). 

Together, we can sustain the growth of existing arts infrastructure and create new opportunities to engage with the arts in NW Connecticut.