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Brenda Thomson with 2019 Rising Star award winner Rachel Egboro.

Arizona Humanities is reminding arts and cultural institutions the final deadline for American Rescue Plan grants is fast approaching.

Brenda Thomson is executive director for the organization and said grant funds totaling about $850,000 can be used for a variety of needs in the arts and culture communities statewide.

“We look at museums, archives, historical societies and cultural centers whose primary mission is humanities-focused. If they can demonstrate a track record of regularly doing public humanities programs, they’re eligible to be funded. These funds can be used for both programs and operational expenses,” she said.

Grant money that specifically targets funding for cultural organizations across Arizona is supplied by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Last year, Thomson said about $500,000 in similar funding was awarded for nearly 60 organizations, and it was invaluable for them.

“They would have been thriving if they had ticket sales, tours of their museum exhibits, if they’d have been able to put on their theater, musical and arts productions, but they couldn’t as people couldn’t physically be in their spaces. They also had to pivot and learn how to put on virtual programs and be able to keep their staff,” she said.

As the delta variant of the coronavirus keeps contributing to rising cases in the state, Thomson said many organizations may want to continue offering virtual activities and grants would help them facilitate that option.

“Maybe somebody from a reservation community can’t travel all the way to the Phoenix library for a poetry reading, but [with grant money to continue supporting programs] they can click and hear poets from anywhere in Arizona. They can hear from someone who’s talking about an historical event at a museum, for example,” she said.  

For questions e-mail Samantha Anderson at [email protected] or call 602-257-0335.

You can apply here. The deadline is Aug. 31.