Forsyth County ARPA Funding
About the Program
In March 2022, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners earmarked $4.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to be managed by Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County. In January 2023, Arts Council received a contract from Forsyth County Government and began making allocations to provide aid to the local arts and cultural sector, including arts and cultural organizations and artist small businesses. The funding supports recovery, new revitalization and expansion of community-based arts programming, arts workforce development programs, and technical assistance. Between January and September 2023, Arts Council’s Public Support and Community Engagement Committee reviewed hundreds of requests totaling more than was available through these once-in-a-lifetime ARPA funds. The below summarizes projects approved by Arts Council’s Public Support and Community Engagement Committee thus far. At this time, we are not accepting new requests for ARPA funding.
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Committee members: Jake Wharton, Chair, Jim DeCristo, Kenneth Pettigrew, and Talitha Vickers. Arts Council staff oversight: Chase Law, Rebecca Bender, Shannon Stokes, and Cécile Boynton.
Forsyth County ARPA Awards/Allocations
Award Recipient | Project Description | Amount Awarded/Allocated | Populations Served |
|---|---|---|---|
North Carolina Black Repertory Company | Capacity building funds to support development and marketing staff positions to assist with higher levels of awareness and participation from patrons and supporters. | $100,000 | 27101 |
Piedmont Craftsmen, Inc | Support to assist with audience engagement and discovery initiative that will allow for recovery of lost funding and discovering of new audiences. | $74,300 | 27101 |
Piedmont Jazz Alliance, LLC | Revitalization and Capacity Building for the Promotion of Jazz Performance. PJA seeks to improve the marketing and promotion of its 2023-2024 season of 9 acts. | $25,000 | 27105 |
Piedmont Opera | Support of Piedmont Opera 2.0, a strategic plan to inject opera into underserved communities throughout Forsyth County. | $65,000 | 27106, 27103, 27406, 27105, 27012, 10027, 27104, 27012, 27040, 27104, 27023 |
Piedmont Wind Symphony | Free-to-the-public concerts, June through September 2023, in partnership with Incendiary Brewing at the Coal Pit, Winston-Salem and Incendiary Brewing, Lewisville. | $60,000 | 27012, 27023, 27040 |
Rhino Leap | Support provided to showcase a PBS film special at A/perture with talkback sessions. | $3,500 | takes place in 27101; and serves multiple Forsyth County zip codes |
RiverRun International Film Festival | Support of a BIPOC Filmmaker Fellowship, curation of a BIPOC festival program, and expansion of Films With Class education program and year-round free screenings. | $90,000 | 27101 |
Royal Curtain Drama Guild, INC | Support of Theatrical Afterschool Program for Students (TAPS)/ Community Outreach Training in Theater Arts (COTTA). | $50,000 | 27101, 27105, 27127, 27107 |
SECCA Foundation | The SECCA Art Mobile (SAM) Project brings high-quality art instruction by local artists to WSFC schools, community centers, and event spaces. | $150,000 | 27106 |
Sawtooth School of Visual Art | Support of studios and classes at Sawtooth School for Visual Art's location at the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness. | $75,000 | 27105 |
Senior Services, Inc. | Support of 3 Public Art Installations for Senior Services’ Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness. | $55,000 | 27105 |
Shared Radiance | Support for production of The Tempest in Winston Square Park for Winston-Salem residents to attend free of charge. | $775 | takes place in 27101; and serves multiple Forsyth County zip codes |
Timeline
Application Deadline: As of June 2023, we are not accepting any new applications.
Please Note: All applications and required supporting documents must be submitted via the Submittable Grants Portal.
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Review of Application: Applications will be reviewed by Arts Council Public Support and Community Engagement Committee on the 3rd Wednesday of every month. To be considered at the monthly review meeting, applications must be submitted by the 5th of the month.
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Award Notification: By the end of each month the application was submitted.
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Project Period: All projects must be completed by December 31, 2024
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Reporting: Monthly reporting will be required as outlined in the Eligibility Documents below.
Eligibility Criteria
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Must be an organization, business entity or individual artist that resides and/or produce most of their program and services in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County.
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ARPA contract recipients must acknowledge the receipt of eligibility documents for the ARPA Fund Application, and agree to comply to all guidelines, procedure and policies of this contract award process​
Evaluation
​Arts Council staff will review all applications to ensure their eligibility. All eligible applications are evaluated by Arts Council Public Support and Community Engagement Committee on the 3rd Wednesday of every month.
Applications will be reviewed and evaluated based on the following guidelines:
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BUDGET: Is the budget clear with detailed expenses? Does the project budget align with the project narrative?
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SUSTAINABILITY: Is the sustainability plan for this project clear and feasible?
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COMMUNITY IMPACT: Is it clear as to the constituency being served in this project? How does this align with Arts Council strategic visioning roadmap.
Note: At least 50% of the ARPA Funds must serve project initiatives in disproportionately impacted communities, and provide initiatives in areas that are at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty level. More information about the Federal Poverty level can be found in our resource drive below.
For ARPA Contract Recipients
Please note that part of ARPA compliance is that Contractors will give proper credit to Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County and Forsyth County Government with use of logos in all publicity, including on flyers or advertisements and will use the following tagline acknowledgement:
“The Project Name is a sponsored project of the Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County and funded through ARPA supported by the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners.”
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You can share all project marketing and/or promotional information with our CMO and VP, Development, Katie Hall, khall@intothearts.org.
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Requirements
Contact
General Questions:
Shannon Stokes
Vice President of Strategy and Community Impact
(336) 747-1416
To Schedule a Call with Grants Team:
Cécile Boynton
Community Grants and Services Manager
(336) 747-1412