In order to off-set the years long impact of COVID on the cultural economy, the Director of the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs requests Council approve a subrecipient agreement with THE MID-AMERICA ARTS ALLIANCE and provide $5,000,000.00 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the Houston Arts and Cultural Stabilization Grant Program. The funds will be disbursed as grants to arts and cultural organization in Houston. The term of the agreement is through December 31, 2024 with 4 one-year options. M-AAA has previously successfully distributed federal funds in Houston.
The US Federal Treasury and Texas Comptroller single out the travel and tourism industry – which includes the arts – as hardest hit economically, both in Texas and nationally. According to the Texas Comptroller, Texas’s arts and entertainment industries were among the hardest hit by the pandemic with $1.6 billion in cumulative losses for the creative industries in Houston along with a loss of more than 42,000 creative jobs per the Brookings Institution. The arts were the first industry to shutter and the last allowed to re-open, and are still not close to pre-pandemic capacity or production
The Subrecipient Agreement requires that M-AAA fully manage the grant program by ensure that the distribution of funds be accessible, transparent, equitable and in accordance with current governing laws, regulations or written procedures or protocols. M-AAA will provide an objective score based application and conduct substantive outreach and virtual application workshops and technical assistance prior to application deadlines. They will provide notification to applicants in a timely fashion and manage all distributions of funds. The application will be open in June with planned distribution of funds by M-AAA in September 2023.
The Houston Arts and Cultural Stabilization Grant Program will assist in the recovery and sustainability of one of Houston's economic drivers. Funds will be administered and distributed as direct grants to arts nonprofits. Allowable expenses will include only: payroll, local artists fees, and marketing. This gives each recipient maximum flexibility to meet their unique needs while also ensuring the majority of the funds are used to support the income of the individual artists and administrators who drive the cultural economy. The grant program is focused on these three allowable expenses to prioritize recovery, stabilization of the cultural economy, including incentivizing support of Houston-based artists by grantees, and increase cultural resilience.
Investing American Rescue Plan funding in Houston’s arts and culture sector—from the largest, iconic institutions to the life and work of the individual artist, from the neighborhood small business dance studio to the diversity of cultural coalitions—is the among the best ways we can restore, reinvigorate, and reimagine our region’s economy and way of life
Arts and Culture Stabilization Grant $4,600,000.00
Program Costs $ 400,000.00
Total $5,000,000.00
Fiscal Note:
No Fiscal Note is required on grant items
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Necole Irvin, Director
Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs
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Estimated Spending Authority
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Department
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Current FY
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Mayor's Office
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5,000,000.00
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TOTAL
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5,000,000.00
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