From staff reports
The Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce (BCBCC) will receive an American Rescue Plan Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic.
The BCBCC is recommended to receive $150,000 and may use this funding to save jobs and to fund operations and facilities, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional efforts to encourage attendance and participation.
“Our nation’s arts sector has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Endowment for the Arts’ American Rescue Plan funding will help arts organizations, such as the Gullah Art Gallery/Museum within the BCBCC to rebuild and reopen,” NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson said in a release. “The arts are crucial in helping America’s communities heal, unite, and inspire, as well as essential to our nation’s economic recovery.”
“What do you see when you dream? The only answer is ‘art.’ I am a St. Helena native, and look forward to offering more opportunities for the community, which showcases my culture, but with a focus on our youth. Teaching our children that any dream is possible,” Art Curator/Gallery Manager Dominique Tuttle said in a release.
The American Rescue Plan was signed into law in March 2021 when the NEA was provided $135 million for the arts sector. The funding for the organizations is the third installment providing more than $57.7 million for arts organizations.
In April 2021, the NEA announced $52 million (40 percent) in ARP funding would be allocated to 62 state, jurisdictional, and regional arts organizations for re-granting through their respective programs. The second installment in November 2021 allocated $20.2 million to 66 local arts agencies for sub-granting to local artists and art organizations.
In total, the NEA will award grants totaling $57,750,000 to 567 arts organizations.
