The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County is headquartered in the historic Robert M. Montgomery Jr. building in downtown Lake Worth Beach. SARGENT PHOTOGRAPHY / COURTESY PHOTO
Here’s something that should improve the state of the arts.
The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County is allocating $10.6 million to the local arts and cultural sector over the next 12 months — more than it has at any single point in its 46-year history, according to Cultural Council President & CEO Dave Lawrence.
“Supporting the cultural sector is absolutely essential, now more than ever,” Lawrence said. “The arts and culture community drives economic impact, supports thousands of jobs and contributes to quality of life in Palm Beach County.
“We’ve worked diligently this past year to assemble new funding initiatives that provide support and new opportunities for creative professionals and cultural organizations. We are fortunate to have visionary partners to help us provide grants, fellowships and other support services that will create a ripple effect in Palm Beach County.”
The campaign, which is called the Year of Extraordinary Support — or YES! — includes new grants and programs for cultural organizations and creative professionals across all disciplines, as well as increased funding for some existing programs, he added.
LAWRENCE
“The cultural needs assessment that we did about a year and a half ago gave us a look at those cultural organizations and artists we had who gave us nearly 600 responses to a survey we did,” Lawrence said.
The results of that assessment found the top needs of artists included career support, assistance with generating income, funding to offset the cost of doing business and meaningful networking. Top needs of cultural organizations included funding, board recruitment and management, staffing, audience development and assistance with equity, diversity and inclusion.
“We had seven focus groups all across the county to figure out what the cultural sector needed, so that we could make sure that our programs and services aligned,” Lawrence said. “Then we went out and did a lot of fundraising from county sources including the Tourist Development Council, the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation and individual philanthropists.”
Due to the council’s advocacy efforts and record-high tourism in the county since the pandemic, large and mid-sized cultural organizations funded by hotel bed tax through the Tourist Development Council will receive over $7 million in total grants. Small organizations that receive grants from the council for operating support and education programs, funded by ad valorem tax, will receive funds from a pool that was recently increased to $300,000.
The Cultural Council has also partnered with Palm Beach County to introduce a new $3 million capital grant program utilizing American Rescue Plan funds. Eight organizations will receive grant dollars for infrastructure, capital improvements and other construction projects through the Palm Beach County Cultural Capital Fund.
In addition, the council is planning to underwrite an Arts Administrator of Color Fellowship program that will launch in the coming months. The purpose of the 10-month program is to amplify new and diverse voices in arts and culture, build a leadership pipeline of arts administrators and graduate students interested in careers in the arts and provide career enhancement opportunities through a series of workshops, networking, mentoring and other curricula. Applications will open next summer.
“There are two programs where the recipients have already been decided,” Lawrence said. “Those are the Cultural Capital Fund and the Artist Ambassador Program. The rest of the programs that are part of this will all have applications that we’ll release throughout the year. There will be grant panels that will be brought together to decide the recipients of those grants.”
Funding for creative professionals is equally strong, he added. Lawrence also announced that applications are now open for a third round of the council’s groundbreaking Artist Innovation Fellowship program. This program provides $7,500 grants to artists across all artistic disciplines to allow artists to explore the creation of new works, conduct research, participate in retreats or workshops, study with master artists in their field or travel to gain new insight and inspiration for new work.
Additionally, the council will introduce an Emerging Artist Prize that will be open to all artistic disciplines, focused on professional development. Five artists will be paired with Artist Innovation Fellows as mentors and gain access and introductions to cultural organizations, public art professionals and galleries, as well as funding for materials or supplies.
“Every program will have different eligibility criteria,” Lawrence said. “All of that will be laid out on our website. But to give an example, the Artist Innovation Fellowship is for seasoned artists who are professionals in any artistic discipline that have been in their field 10 years or more. They must be a resident of Palm Beach County for at least the last three years, and we ask that they have made the majority of their income through the sale, promotion and/or performance of their work. We will award the $7,500 grant to 10 of those applicants. We plan to announce those recipients at our gala fundraiser on Thursday, March 7 of next year.”
He added the public is invited to get involved with the YES! Fund, which will allow the Cultural Council to provide even more grants and fellowships to deserving applicants.
“By making a gift to the YES! Fund, you are helping to strengthen and grow our vibrant cultural sector. We invite residents and businesses to join us in saying ‘YES!’ and making this the time that we provide more resources, more aid, and more support to cultural organizations and creative professionals in our community.”
For more information and to donate, see palmbeachculture.com.