The NEA and NEH Received Additional Allocations… Do You Qualify?

By Wendy McGrady

Executive Vice President

Are you curious to know how the CARES Act impacts your museum or cultural institution?

In addition to the loans, tax credits, universal charitable deduction, suspended adjusted gross income limits, individual financial support and payroll tax extension that I mentioned in my last blogpost, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities were each allocated $75 million in additional funding which could help you.

National Endowment for the Arts

• What We Know — The allocation will be distributed to nonprofit arts organizations to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. The funds can be used for general operating expenses without matching funds, which is a shift from the NEA’s regular guidelines.
• Learn More – Details regarding timing and application process are being developed and will be announced as soon as they are available. Please check arts.gov in the coming days for more information.

National Endowment for the Humanities

• What We Know – This emergency funding will support at-risk humanities positions and projects at museums, libraries and archives, historic sites, colleges and universities and other cultural nonprofits that have been financially impacted by the coronavirus.
• Learn More – According to NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede, “Our federal agency will work around the clock to ensure that these vital funds immediately reach large and small cultural organizations, as well as educators, curators, scholars, filmmakers, and other humanists.” Application details are still being finalized. Visit their FAQ page.

We know that this pandemic is having a devastating impact on the Arts & Culture sector. The NEH reports that the sector represents 4.5% of our nation’s gross domestic product and that museums and historic sites are reporting losses of $1 billion a month as things close or are cancelled. We also know that these numbers do not address the detrimental social, economic and cultural impact of the closings and cancellations. Know that you are not alone. We are in this together, and we want to help.

Chairman Peede of the NEH said it beautifully: “To the extent that healing is to come during and after this pandemic, it will be through humanities fields from philosophy to literature to history to religious studies—through the act of documenting, preserving, sharing, and reflecting— that our communities will move toward a greater sense of wholeness.”

For further information, you can find a section-by-section breakdown of the legislation, and the Appropriations summary. You can also find more through the Alliance of Artists Communities as well as a dashboard about the financial impact of the crisis on several arts organizations collected by Americans for the Arts.  Of course, if we can help, please call us at 757-496-2224.