27 January 2022
St. Louis, MO — Cinema St. Louis is pleased to announce they have been approved to receive an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. Cinema St. Louis (CSL) is recommended to receive $100,000 and may use this funding to save jobs and to fund operations and facilities, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional efforts to encourage attendance and participation. In total, the NEA will award grants totaling $57,750,000 to 567 arts organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC.
“Our nation’s arts sector has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Endowment for the Arts’ American Rescue Plan funding will help arts organizations, such as Cinema St. Louis, rebuild and reopen,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA. “The arts are crucial in helping America’s communities heal, unite, and inspire, as well as essential to our nation’s economic recovery.”
“Cinema St. Louis is grateful to receive the NEA’s invaluable support during this difficult period for the arts,” said Cliff Froehlich, executive director of CSL. “Cinema St. Louis plans to use the funds to sustain the organization’s needs in staffing, marketing, and film-festival venues.”
The American Rescue Plan was signed into law in March 2021 when the NEA was provided $135 million for the arts sector. The funding for organizations is the third installment providing more than $57.7 million for arts organizations. In April 2021, the NEA announced $52 million (40 percent) in ARP funding would be allocated to 62 state, jurisdictional, and regional arts organizations for regranting through their respective programs. The second installment in November 2021 allocated $20.2 million to 66 local arts agencies for subgranting to local artists and art organizations.
The nonprofit Cinema St. Louis produces SLIFF, one of the largest and highest-profile international film festivals in the Midwest. The fest has been lauded in USA Today’s 10Best list. CSL also produces the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, QFest St. Louis, the Classic French Film Festival, and Golden Anniversaries (a series of films celebrating their 50th anniversary).
For more information on the NEA’s American Rescue Plan grants, including the full list of arts organizations funded in this announcement, visit www.arts.gov/COVID-19/the-american-rescue-plan.
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