SLFRF-Funded Program Overview

Using SLRF funding, CAC awarded grants to 149 arts and cultural nonprofits in Cuyahoga County to provide relief from the COVID-19 pandemic. The flexible funds recognized the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the creative economy and ranged from $2,000 to $75,000 based on an organization’s size or previous CAC grant award. See CAC ARPA Resolution

Assembly for the Arts distributed SLFRF funding to 400 individual artists and 67 for-profit creative businesses in Cuyahoga County, with artist funding allocations of nearly $2,300 per artist and creative business allocations ranging from $400 up to $45,000. See Assembly ARPA Resolution

Advocacy

CAC, Assembly, and community advocates worked with both city and county level government bodies to secure SLFRF funding for the arts and culture sector. Assembly, working with CAC, had an extremely strong artist-driven advocacy strategy, including a dedicated postcard campaign where one artist from each of Cleveland’s 17 city wards helped design a postcard to strengthen the message, “My work as an artist needs your support because…” The resulting postcards were distributed to the community and sent to local government offices asking for arts and culture funding from the SLFRF program. See Postcard Campaign Information

Collectively, both organizations in partnership with the community influenced the dedication of $6.3M in ARPA funds for local arts and culture - $3M from Cuyahoga County to support direct relief programs and an additional $3M from the City of Cleveland to create a Transformative Public Art Fund.

Process

Application processes were simplified for nonprofit organizations as CAC awarded funds to organizations that had received CAC grants in the past. This streamlined process did not require panel review or risk assessment as the funds backfilled COVID-related losses for trusted organizations that had previously been funded by CAC and successfully delivered mission-driven public service.

Equity

Driven by strong support for expanding the pie of resources and improving racial equity in the creative sector of Cuyahoga County, CAC and Assembly work closely together to achieve shared goals and leverage each organization’s strengths. Areas of high poverty and COVID impact in Cuyahoga County were targeted for funding allocations, and artists were funded in ways to ensure the racial diversity of awardees was representative of the county more broadly.

Assembly’s targeted community engagement led to strong support for Black and Brown creatives across the county:

• 70% of artists who received funding identified as Black/African American, Native, Hispanic, Asian or Middle Eastern.
• More than 60% of creative businesses that received funding were minority-owned;
• 45% were women-owned; and
• 26% of artists funded self-identified as having invisible or observable disabilities.

Engagement efforts for the program also included the hiring of a dedicated Community Engagement Consultant to support community outreach efforts; the design of a distribution model, which made it possible to fund all 467 eligible artists and businesses who applied for ARPA dollars; a streamlined and simplified application process that did not require the submission of tax forms or extensive financial documentation for previous grantees; and extensive one-on-one staff support for applicants.

Moving Forward

Between Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and Assembly for the Arts, Cuyahoga County has developed a strong advocacy and support network for the arts and culture sector. The publicity and broad impact of the SLFRF funds provided evidence of the strength and impact of the sector, which the area hopes to capitalize on to secure renewal of a cigarette tax that funds arts and culture in Cuyahoga County. On November 5, 2024, Cuyahoga County voters will have the opportunity to vote on Issue 55, a replacement and expansion of the tax on cigarettes that funds Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. See Tax Vote Information

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) is one of the largest local public funders for arts and culture in the nation, created in 2006 when residents approved a tax to support local arts and culture. Since then, CAC has invested more than $246 million in more than 485 organizations both large and small, making the community more vibrant. In all areas of their work, CAC is striving to promote racial equity and inclusion. Visit the CAC website 

Assembly for the Arts is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, formerly Arts Cleveland, strengthening and supporting those who create, present, experience and appreciate all forms of arts and culture and works in partnership with CAC. Assembly is especially attentive to the needs of BIPOC artists, nonprofits, and small creative businesses. Broadly, their work is focused on achieving the following: 1) Expand the pie of financial, technical, and capacity support for the arts and cultural sector, and 2) Increase equity to support BIPOC and historically disadvantaged communities within the sector. Visit the Assembly for the Arts website