COVID-19 Arts & Culture Relief Fund Helps Showcase Local Artists, Keep Space Open During Pandemic
DENVER (CBS4) - Organizations struggling to stay open and operating across Colorado received essential support in August in the form of grants from the COVID-19 Arts & Culture Relief Fund. More than 40 groups were selected and in some cases, leaders say they would not have remained afloat without that funding.
"That grant came through and I have to tell you, it saved us and it breathed a new life into our programming," said Santiago Jaramillo, the co-founder and co-director of D3 Arts. "If you don't have that, we will almost sink and who will be the voice for the community?"
The fund is a joint effort between the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation and The Denver Foundation, which just approved the first round of applicants for emergency funding. Leaders selected 42 organizations to receive grants between $5,000 to $50,000. A report by Colorado Creative Industries estimates a loss of 32,000 jobs and $823 million in revenue between April and July across the state. The figures include various industries in arts and culture including nonprofit and for-profit companies.
"This is going to be a challenge for the next several months, and many organizations are going to have to cancel their entire 2021 season," said Gary Steuer, president & CEO of Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. "This is far from over in terms of the impact it's going to have on our cultural community."
D3 Arts launched about a decade ago for the Westwood community to have a place to showcase local artists. A part of Denver that has a majority of Mexican Americans, the art reflects their culture. D3 Arts has become a space that neighbors find approachable but also a location to showcase the work you may not see in other venues. They were behind on rent payments for their building before they were awarded the grant.
"This community, in our opinion, didn't have a true voice from the community so we wanted to be that voice," Jaramillo told CBS4 on Tuesday. "We're putting this art here because we want Westwood to always stand for that."
The fund is administrated by The Denver Foundation and includes a $1 million commitment by the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. Leaders are still fundraising for the future, including a second round of grant recipients, but the total amount collected so far is already more than $1.7 million.
"They don't have the capacity to survive this and so that additional support is just absolutely critical, even if it just allows to them to just barely hang on to come back when this is over," Steuer told CBS4 on Tuesday. "Those organizations are the ones that are, to be honest, must less likely to have wealthy boards, much less likely to have access to wealthy patrons, to have endowments, and so supporting these organizations is particularly critical."
The Relief Fund selected organizations across various interests in the arts and culture sector but in its desire to help smaller groups, it also put an emphasis on nonprofits highlighting diversity. Communities of color are often represented by organizations lacking the resources of major institutions in Colorado.
"This is a major part of our community and it's a huge resource in our community, organizations that are kind of rooted in the Latino community, the African American community, the Asian community," Steuer said. "We can't risk losing these organizations over the next few months."
The need for a creative place to not only support neighborhood artists but also bring the community together has only grown in importance during the pandemic and a violent summer in Denver. Jaramillo understands the role his nonprofit can play for his community, especially for teens and young adults.
"We have to do something, D3 Arts has to stand up and represent what we truly believe in and that's supporting the people here in Westwood," he said. "We're here, I'm from here, how can we help and get people to the table."
