Grants Given Out To Help Pinellas Artists Recover From Pandemic

LARGO, FL — Creative Pinellas has announced the 2022 Pinellas Recovers Individual Artist Grant recipients.

Thirteen Pinellas County artists were selected after thorough review by a panel made up of artists, curators and arts leaders to receive grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000.

The purpose of the grants, funded through a $500,000 grant Creative Pinellas received from the National Endowment for the Arts, is to both assist artists in recovering from the COVID-19 crisis and to support them in the creation of projects that bring high-quality arts experiences to diverse communities, including those that often lack access to the arts offer.

“Creative Pinellas has been very aware of how vital it is to get funding for the arts in Pinellas County and how much individual artists, and arts and cultural organizations, are struggling as we recover from the pandemic,” said Creative Pinellas CEO Barbara St. Clair.

“This is the third program we have been involved in to provide funding relief, including a project with the county at the end of 2020 to distribute more than $3.5 million of CARES Act funds to artists and arts organizations," St. Clair said. "What is unique about this program with the NEA is that we were able to create a model for Pinellas County of how we can use government spending to distribute funds directly to individual artists and to arts and cultural organizations through a comprehensive granting process. We hope to be able to access funds in the future, so that we can continue to provide grants to artists and arts and cultural organizations reinforcing our mission and actively supporting the arts community, regardless of whether there is a pandemic.”

Creative Pinellas awarded $95,000 of the NEA grant to individual artists with an additional $350,000 going to grants for arts and cultural organizations. The nonprofit received close to $400,000 in requests from individual artists, almost four times the amount available.

Artists Mitzi Gordon, Steph Hargrove, Dallas Jackson, Cecilia Lueza, Mickett Stackhouse Studio (Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse), Erica Sutherlin and Pamela Trow received $10,000 grants.

Jon Didier, John Gascot, Jackie Kaufman and David Manson received $5,000 grants.

Robyn Crosa and Linda Nash received $2,500 grants.

Projects range from filmmaking, jazz concerts and murals to arts experiences for the blind and public engagement addressing climate change.

“In going through the process of evaluating the grants and choosing between many worthy artists and projects, there were two things that really stood out,” said project manager Ann Wykell. “The first is the amazing range of talent and creativity we have in Pinellas County. That was one comment we heard over and over from the panel as they carefully discussed each application and worked hard to come to consensus on which grants to award. The other is how clear the need is for financial support for artists here in Pinellas County, and how much that support benefits not just the individual artist, but the community.

"As pleased as we were to be able to distribute these funds, this really echoes the need for financial support for the artists in Pinellas County, their talents, their strength and the extent and scope of their contribution to our community," Wykell said.

Creative Pinellas was one of 24 local arts agencies nationwide selected to receive an American Rescue Plan grant of $500,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Creative Pinellas is using the NEA funds to provide grants directly to eligible artists and arts organizations, to support public participation with individual artists and their work, and to support salaries, stipends to artists, marketing and promotions for arts and cultural organizations.

Pinellas Recovers grants are a one-year program beginning April 25 for arts organizations and May 2 for individual artists, and are in addition to the annual Creative Pinellas Professional Artists and Emerging Artists grants.

In April, grants of $2,500 to $50,000 were awarded to 20 organizations for COVID-19 recovery.

The organizations listed below received Pinellas Recovers Grant intended to help support jobs in the arts community and help in the rebuilding and restoring of staff and programs to provide more high-quality arts experiences for our residents and visitors:

• Cultured Books Literacy Foundation-$2,500
• Dunedin Film Festival Inc.-$2,500
• Ballet Academy St. Petersburg-$5,000
• EMIT-$5,000
• Gulf Coast Artists Alliance Inc.-$5,000
• St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society-$5,000
• Academy of Ballet Arts Inc.-$10,000
• The Beach Art Center-$10,000
• Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum-$10,000
• Keep St. Pete Lit-$10,000
• St Petersburg City Theatre-$10,000
• Tampa Bay Symphony Inc.-$10,000
• Morean Arts Center (Arts Center Association Inc.)-$20,000
• Arts Conservatory for Teens-$20,000
• DMG School Project-$20,000
• The Studio@620-$20,000
• TIGLFF-$20,000
• Creative Clay-$50,000
• freeFall Theatre-$50,000
• St. Petersburg Arts Alliance-$50,000

“These grants recognize the vital role of local arts agencies and will allow them to help rebuild local economies and contribute to the well-being of our communities.” said Ann Eilers, NEA’s acting chair.

As the county’s local arts agency, Creative Pinellas and the programs it delivers are funded by the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners, Visit St Petersburg/Clearwater, the state of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and by sales of the State of the Arts specialty license plate in Pinellas County.