UPDATE: $1 Million More Every Year for Grassroots Arts Grants- Passed & Signed
On Monday, July 11th Governor Roy Cooper signed the NC State Budget into law (HB103) after having passed both the NC House of Representative and the NC Senate at the end of the 2022 NC General Assembly session in June. This includes a $1 million increase for NC Arts Council Grassroots Arts Program Grants that will NOW RECUR EVERY YEAR. This was one of two arts requests for the NC General Assembly this session. This 35% increase for the Grassroots Arts Program ($2.8M to $3.8M) is the first new recurring funding allocated to NC Arts Council grants since 2017, the first recurring funding for the Grassroots Arts Program since 2016, and the largest increase in recurring funds for arts grants since 2006. While Arts North Carolina regrets that legislators did not also invest in NC Arts Council General Grants as requested, we are glad that this new allocation will continue for years to come, sustaining public funding for the arts in all 100 counties.
Arts North Carolina is grateful to all the legislators, advocates, artists, arts leaders and arts lovers that have worked so hard over the last year to help make this allocation possible.
In addition to the NC Arts Council funding, the NC Symphony, which is part of the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR), was allocated $1 million in recurring funds to establish a permanent series of concerts in western North Carolina and a $200,000 recurring allocation for transporting students to education concerts. High Point Arts Council received $150,000 in non-recurring funds for capital expenses, for which there is no formal granting process through the NC Arts Council or any other state agency. Legislators also allocated $100,000 in non-recurring funds to the NC Folk Festival and $150,000 in non-recurring funds to the Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County, which was not solicited, to be distributed to arts nonprofits in that community. Arts NC discourages direct allocations for operations because the NC Arts Council distributes state government funds for operations and programming to organizations equitably across all 100 counties, with appropriate oversight and measured accountability. However, legislators are often assigned funding to invest in their districts, and may choose to award those funds to arts nonprofits, often those that advocate regularly for the NC Arts Council.