The Cuyahoga Arts & Culture board approved more than $10.7 million in grants Wednesday as the agency prepares for an influx of funding from the county cigarette tax.
The 2025 grant awards comprise operating support, project support or cultural heritage grants to a total of 300 nonprofits. The amounts were actually set a year ago, when the CAC board approved two years of uniform support amid declining revenues in anticipation of seeking an expansion of the cigarette tax.
“We said we wanted to treat nonprofits fairly,” said CAC Executive Director Jill Paulsen. “We wanted them to know that what the commitment from CAC was in ’24 would, ideally, be similar if not the same in 2025. We wouldn’t have been able to do that had this board made other decisions.”
More than 70% of voters approved Issue 55 this month, raising the tax from 30-cents-per-pack to 70 cents. The move came as revenue from the tax is down by half since its inception in 2007.
“Come March, we’ll begin to receive the revenue from the replacement tax,” Paulsen said. “That will allow us to have additional money that will factor into our grants for 2026. It’s a little bit of a runway, but it does gives us this opportunity to build back up our general fund.”
Ideastream Public Media receives funding from CAC and also contributed to the campaign supporting Issue 55.
Year-to-year, revenue from the tax is down 12.7%. Total funding was down from the $11.7 million awarded in 2022. That’s expected to change with the passage of Issue 55.
“I think that what the vote demonstrates is that when county voters are faced with reasonable social-humanitarian issues, they come through,” said CAC Board Member Leonard DiCosimo.
Some of the biggest grants of more than $860,000 go to Playhouse Square, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Applicants were reviewed by a panel of arts experts from outside the region. Grants to arts advocacy group Assembly for the Arts will be presented for board approval at the December 18 meeting.
See a full list of grant awardees below for general operating support, project support and cultural heritage.
