Civic Arts Your Government

Apply by Dec. 23, 2021: COVID-19 grants available for arts groups, festivals

Awards of up to $33,000 can help lessen pandemic’s impact, build for future

Published:

December 1, 2021

Last Updated:

November 2, 2022

Berkeley, California (Wednesday, December 01, 2021) - Berkeley-based arts nonprofits and festivals can now apply for one-time grants to help them financially recover from the pandemic.

Funding may be used to lessen an arts organization's economic loss or implement COVID-19 prevention tactics. They can also be used to pay for consulting and marketing services to boost the organization's revenues.

Grant awards will range from $3,000 to $33,000 and will be based upon a scoring criteria that centers cultural equity.

Grant applications close on Dec. 23

When applying, you'll be asked to provide information about your organization or festival and the negative financial impacts that you experienced due to COVID-19.

To apply for this one-time grant:

Submit your application online
1. Create an account
2. Select the Berkeley Arts Recovery Grants (BARG) for Organizations & Festivals
Deadline to apply is December 23, 2021, by 5 PM
Award notifications will be sent in early 2022

To ensure that organizations can successfully use the funds, grant amounts will be no more than two times an organization's annual budget.

Approved recipients will have until December 31, 2024, to use these one-time grants.

Berkeley Arts Recovery Grants program supports COVID-19 resilience

The Berkeley Arts Recovery Grants for Organizations & Festivals are funded through a one-time allocation by Berkeley City Council of American Rescue Plan Act dollars to support Berkeley's arts sector recovery.

This fund will provide one-time grants available to Berkeley-based nonprofit and fiscally sponsored arts organizations and festivals to help them sustainably recover from the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you know others who might be interested, please spread the word!

For questions, contact the Civic Arts Program at civicarts@cityofberkeley.info or (510) 981-7539.