National Endowment for the Arts Announces Hurricane Recovery Aid

Eight Florida arts organization receive grants

June 15, 2005

		Contact: Victoria Hutter, NEA 202-682-5692 hutterv@arts.gov

Washington, D.C. – As hurricane season 2005 begins, the National Endowment for the Arts announces grants to eight Florida arts organizations to assist them and their members recover from Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Jeanne, and Ivan that tore through the state in 2004. A total of $100,000 has been designated to eight arts organizations to support needs such as facility assessments and special programming.

The Florida Cultural Alliance and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs were key partners in identifying organizations that at the time of inquiry had either the greatest need or were organizations that could most effectively reach grassroots constituents struggling to recover.

An example of the assistance offered by the NEA is the $10,000 grant to the Orlando Ballet. The funds will be used to repair sets and props with the largest portion of the grant going to refurbish 5,000 costumes damaged by Hurricane Charley. Other grantees are listed below. Please see the complete list of grantees with project descriptions.

The Arts Council (Martin County), Stuart
Arts Council of Northwest Florida, Pensacola
Arts & Humanities Council of Charlotte County, Port Charlotte
Brevard Cultural Alliance, Viera
Lee County Alliance of the Arts, Fort Myers
Orange County Board of County Commissioners, Orlando
Orlando Ballet, Orlando
Palm Beach County Cultural Council, West Palm Beach

Although the NEA does not have special appropriations or funding categories to support disaster recovery for arts organizations, limited assistance is provided through discretionary funds available to the NEA chairman. The NEA works in partnership with other federal agencies to meet community needs.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts - both new and established - bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. For more information, visit the agency’s Web site at www.arts.gov

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