The Georgia Department of Economic Development's Georgia Council for the Arts released guidelines and opened applications for the Resiliency Grant, a one-time grant funded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. As a State Arts Agency, the Georgia Council for the Arts was designated to distribute these funds from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help sustain Georgia’s nonprofit arts sector. 

“Thanks to their ability to create connections, stimulate local economies, and unearth beauty and power in our most trying times, arts organizations are uniquely positioned to help our communities heal and remember, as well as craft a vision for our future,” said Karen Paty, executive director for Georgia Council for the Arts. “We have designed the Resiliency Grant to provide an element of support for nonprofit arts organizations that have felt the impact of COVID-19 and have begun charting the course forward to emerge stronger.”

On April 8, by Congressional mandate, the NEA awarded 40% of the agency's CARES Act funding, nearly $30 million, to state and territorial arts agencies and regional arts organizations for their funding programs to ensure wide distribution throughout the country. Each state, territorial and regional arts agency is tasked with developing their own processes for awarding available CARES Act funds. 

Georgia received $507,900 in CARES Act funding, and the Georgia Council for the Arts will continue working to disburse funds throughout the state as quickly as possible to preserve jobs and support the sustainability of nonprofit arts organizations. These competitive grants are open to all nonprofit arts organizations, whether large to small, urban or rural, classical or contemporary, and they are open to first-time applicants along with organizations that have received previous funding from the Georgia Council for the Arts or the NEA.

Applications for the Resiliency Grant are now open and the deadline to submit an application is Tuesday, May 26, 2020, at 11:59 p.m.

Following the NEA precedent, the Georgia Council for the Arts will use Peer Review Panels to review applications for the Resiliency Grant and determine funding. These panels include fellow professionals who are experienced in the arts discipline or type of grant being reviewed; or are Georgia citizens with a record of involvement in arts activities, experience and knowledge.