Metro Arts Announces Grant Awards for Fiscal Year 2020

Allocation of More Than $2.4 Million Represents Investment in Nashville’s Culture, Continued Commitment to Fostering Equity in the Arts

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission (Metro Arts) at their June 20 meeting approved $2,419,283* in community arts investments for the 2019/2020 fiscal year. This funding provides 58 grants to the 46 different nonprofit organizations that were successful in Metro Arts’ competitive grant review process.

Metro Arts grants, funded through the operational budget of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County, support established cultural organizations, such as the Nashville Symphony and the Nashville Children’s Theatre, as well as new and emerging organizations, such as Turnip Green Creative Reuse, which will receive Metro Arts operating support for the first time.

Of the funding awarded, more than $2.3 million is allocated for operational support for local arts and culture institutions, representing Metro Arts’ continued commitment to investing in the longevity and resilience of Nashville’s cultural organizations.

The remaining $91,872 was distributed among 14 project grants intended to increase access to the arts, create new artworks and build organizational capacity and sustainability, such as:

The Actors Bridge Ensemble, who received an Arts Access grant to support its Emerging Directors Inclusion Initiative Performance Festival, which will feature seven emerging directors of color in the first cohort of their Directors Inclusion Initiative.

East Nashville Hope Exchange, who integrates arts as a core element of literacy instruction, received a Youth Arts grant to create an original performance around the theme, "My Family, My Community, My World," including dance, poetry, and visual art.

“We are grateful once again for the support Mayor Briley and the Metro Council have shown in sustaining access to arts and culture,” Metro Arts Executive Director Caroline Vincent. “Investment in the arts is an investment in quality of life for all Nashvillians.”

The nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $429.3 million in annual economic activity in Davidson County, supports 14,277 full-time equivalent jobs and generates $51.1 million in local and state government revenues, according to the 2017 Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 national economic impact study.

A complete list of grant awards and other program information can be found on the

Grants page of MetroArtsNashville.com.

*Grant amounts are based on Metro Arts’ expected operating budget for fiscal year 2019/20. Amounts could vary based on final Metro budget.

About Metro Arts

Metro Arts is the Nashville Office of Arts + Culture. Our mission is to drive a vibrant and equitable community through the arts. Metro Arts strives to ensure that all Nashvillians have access to a creative life, and we work toward this goal through community investments, artist and organizational training, public art and creative placemaking, and direct programs involving residents in all forms of arts and culture. Metro Arts receives operational support from the Tennessee Arts Commission, and additional information is available online at www.MetroArtsNashville.com.