U.S. House Pass Another Continuing Resolution to Fund Federal Government at FY2023 Levels; Deadline to Pass FY2024 Funding is February 12

The president signed H.R. 6363, Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act of 2024, which extends temporarily funding for the federal government at FY2023 spending levels until January 19, 2024, and February 2, 2024. This continuing resolution (CR) provides a laddered approach to funding various federal agencies until January 19, including the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Veterans Affairs, and funds other federal agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Defense, Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Interior until February 2. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will be funded at FY2023 spending levels ($207 million) until February 2, 2024. Even though the NEA will continue to receive its funding at FY2023 levels, which continues to impact its ability to adequately fund the performing arts sector, the CR does provide more time for OPERA America, its members, and the broader opera community to urge Congress to increase NEA and NEH funding to support the performing arts sector.

Please urge your U.S. Senators to support “at least” $211 million for the NEA and NEH pursuant to the president’s FY2024 budget request. You can use this OPERA America action alert to quickly and effectively communicate with your U.S. Senators.

Contact Your U.S. Senators

National Endowment for the Arts Announces New Grantmaking — ArtsHERE — to Support Increased Opportunities for Arts Participation

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently announced a new grantmaking initiative to fund specific projects that will strengthen organizations’ capacity to sustain meaningful community engagement and increase arts participation for underserved groups and communities. The initiative — ArtsHERE — is a partnership with South Arts and in collaboration with the other five (5) U.S. regional arts organizations. ArtsHERE will provide non-matching grant support for organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to equity within their practices and programming. Managed by South Arts, ArtsHERE will award about 95 nonprofit organizations with non-matching grants of $65,000 to $130,000 each.

Please note the following requirements and info for potential applicants:

• A webinar for potential applicants is scheduled for November 30 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Please register here for the webinar.
• Program staff from each of the regional arts organizations are available to answer questions and will be offering office hours. Please go here for further details.
• All applicants must submit a statement of interest by January 19, 2024.
• A select number of applicants will be invited to submit a full application by April 19, 2024.

Performing Arts Readiness Project to Provide Emergency Preparedness Grants; Rolling Application Deadlines in 2024

The Performing Arts Readiness (PAR) Project was established in 2017 to support performing arts organizations during disasters and other emergencies that may adversely impact their ability to operate and provide performances and other public programming. PAR includes outreach and community engagement grants, information resources, mentoring programs, and other types of support grants. Please note that PAR is currently providing the following grants for the performing arts sector:

• Institutional Emergency Preparedness Planning Grants
  Grants of up to $7,250 will be awarded to 24 performing arts organizations for the creation of individual institutional emergency preparedness or Continuity of Operations (CoOP) plans. Projects must be completed in 10–12 months. Funds can be used for consultant fees, meeting expenses, travel, and training. Up to $2,250 of the award can be used for disaster-related supplies and equipment. Previous PAR recipients are not eligible. The application can be found here. The application deadline is January 15, 2024, for projects beginning in 2024.
• Network Grants:
  Seven grants of between $5,000 – $25,000 each will be awarded for projects to support both the development of new or emerging disaster preparedness networks that include performing arts and culture organizations, and the expansion of existing networks to increase participation among performing arts organizations. Grant recipients will be provided with a two-day training session to strengthen effective facilitation skills and foster relationships among networks. Funds can be used for consultant fees, meeting expenses, travel, and training. Projects must be completed in 12–18 months. There is a rolling application deadline until March 1, 2024. The application can be found here.