gallupARTS is pleased to announce it has received a $43,000 American Rescue Plan (ARP) grant from the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) and is approved to receive a $50,000 ARP grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). 

“$93,000 in ARP grant funding ensures gallupARTS will not only survive, but thrive this year, despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic. In turn, gallupARTS will be translating this funding into critical support for local artists and the regional creative economy as we continue to forge the path to recovery together,” says gallupARTS Executive Director Rose Eason.

“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 gallupARTS, rebuild and reopen,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA. “The arts are crucial in helping America’s communities heal, unite, and inspire, as well as essential to our nation’s economic recovery.”  

In total, the NEA will award grants totaling $57,750,000 to 567 arts organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC. WESTAF awarded grant funding to 44 arts and culture organizations across the West, with at least two grants awarded per state at an average level of $35,000 each. Aligning with the priorities of the National Endowment for the Arts (Arts Endowment), the WESTAF ARP program focused on applications that indicated a deep commitment to cultural equity, social justice and disrupting systemic racism through service to a host of constituencies, including rural and remote communities, Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and organizations that support the independence and lifelong inclusion of people with disabilities, among others

For its part, gallupARTS plans to use its grant funding to cover its staffing and facilities costs in 2022, and also to fund two new artist-led, social justice-focused, and community-building initiatives in the coming months.

This year, ART123 Gallery will host five Guest Curators and one Creative-in-Residence. Guest Curators will each take over ART123 Gallery for one month and will be tasked with devising, designing, and producing a show of art that speaks to a social justice issue relevant to the Gallup and McKinley County community. Guest-curated shows are slated for April, May, August, September or December. 

The Creative-in-Residence program will run this summer and will support a local Indigenous creative in developing an action-oriented social justice project accompanied by a “window gallery” show and series of public programs.

“ART123 Gallery is really going to spread its wings and broaden its horizons this year,” says Eason. “We are so excited to open our doors to new perspectives, to elevate and amplify new voices and ideas, and to bring the community together in new ways.” 

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 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 regranting through their respective programs. The second installment in November 2021 allocated $20.2 million to 66 local arts agencies for subgranting to local artists and art organizations.

For more information on the NEA’s American Rescue Plan grants, including the full list of arts organizations funded in this announcement, visit www.arts.gov/COVID-19/the-american-rescue-plan.

For more information on WESTAF’s American Rescue Plan grants, including the full list of grantees, visit https://www.westaf.org/westaf-announces-american-rescue-plan-awardees/.