The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities today announced the artists and cultural organizations who were awarded grants for the 2013 fiscal year. The 258 grants issued total $4.2 million, a $500,000 increase over fiscal 2012, and the first overall increase in several years.
Many of the grants went to the usual groups that depend on public aid to keep the curtains raised and pictures hanging. More than $600,000 was distributed for “Cultural Facilities Projects,” giving capital support organizations like Gala Hispanic Theatre, The Studio Theatre and the Atlas Performing Arts Project.
The Capital Fringe Festival received more than $30,000 across two awards and also qualified for the commission’s UPSTART program, in which the agency assists with infrastructure needs, financial planning and organizational development. Those awards could go a long way in keeping Fringe rooted in its Mt. Vernon Square base; earlier this year, the festival’s founder, Julianne Brienza, told the City Paper she was considering moving some of Fringe’s performances across District lines in order to take advantage of state arts funding.
The commission also said today that there will be an additional round of public funding for artists and cultural organizations, thanks to a one-time increase to its budget that the D.C. Council approved in May. A measure sponsored by Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) raised the DCCAH’s fiscal 2013 budget to $11.9 million.
Ward 2 is also the destination of a bulk of the grant money announced today, with groups and artists in Evans’ ward set to receive $1.5 million. Grantees in Ward 1 are due about $947,000. Ward 7 received the least, with just three grants totalling $40,000, but Ward 8 artists and organizations will get $215,000.
“A thriving arts community has always been a hallmark of world class cities, and the District is no different,” Mayor Vince Gray said in a news release.
The commission received 511 applications requesting $12.5 million, with just over 50 percent of applicants receiving grants.
