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New Mexico Arts (NMA), a division of the state Department of Cultural Affairs, has awarded a total of $32,543 to six arts organizations in Doña Ana County for 2020-21 programming. The funds, which comes from the state general fund, the National Endowment for the Arts and the federal CARES Act, are part of $1.5 million awarded to 193 arts organizations, colleges and universities, K-12 schools, tribal governments and government entities statewide.
The local awards are
“These resources will fund online arts programming and services, assist with the retention of full- and part-time jobs and support independently contracted artists, arts administrators and arts educators across the state,” NMA said in an Aug. 3 news release. One-third of the funding was awarded to organizations based in New Mexico’s rural communities.
“The state’s arts and culture sector, which typically contributes roughly $5.9 billion annually to New Mexico’s economy, has taken a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has suspended large gatherings, resulting in the cancellation of in-person programming, the layoff of musicians and other artists, and in some cases the complete closure of organizations,” the news release said. “Because of a decline in ticket sales, which can be a significant source of income for performing arts organizations, arts providers have been called upon to create virtual programming for their audiences.”
“This $1.5 million in state and federal funds will provide some measure of relief for our arts providers that continue to provide programs and services for adults and youth in our state and keep New Mexicans employed during these precarious times," said Jenice Gharib, NMA grants program and policy director for the agency.
"New Mexico Arts generous donations make sustaining original programming in southern New Mexico a more attainable gamble,” said Project In Motion founder Hilary McDaniel. “Original art communicates with the region which it thrives in, but it also must be able to translate to a broader national and international dialogue. New Mexico Arts has the insight to have faith that we will do just this, that our duet can be performed in New York or Las Cruces and bring a tear to the eye or that our all-ages cast could discuss extinction of species and help a child feel empowered to prevent it rather than succumb to it or give in to despair. Within this interesting age of the pandemic we will be re-inventing live performance,” McDaniel said. “This particular season is intending to feature thought-provoking dances about the written word and literature in correlation to empathy and decline in violence worldwide. We have chosen some of the oldest stories in the world, ‘Shahrezade’ or The Arabian Nights to try and depict in aerial form. These stories have been inspiration for Rimsky-Korsakoff and Disney, but essentially they are the legend of a woman telling stories to evade her own demise. In each of these stories essential truths emerge, empathy emerges and loveliness prevails. Next spring, we have other plans which revolve around original music and sculpture. We hope to be using site-specific performance and all the safe and respectful conditions the pandemic has enlightened us to in order to fulfill this."
See the full list of awards at http://nmarts.org/assets/files/publications/reports/FY21_By_County.pdf.
