LOUISVILLE, KY (September 19, 2024) – Today, Fund for the Arts announced recipients of its 2024-2025 Sustaining Impact Grants (SIG). A total direct investment of $1.875 million has been committed to 27 local arts institutions.
The purpose of the Sustaining Impact Grant is to provide general operating support to arts organizations whose programming advances the community’s Imagine Greater Louisville 2025 priorities and the Fund for the Arts’ Vision, Mission, and Values. The amount of the funding pool each arts organization receives is determined by the organization’s operations budget and the SIG review panel, who evaluate and score the organizations’ applications and conduct interviews with their leadership and governance representatives. This funding recommendation is then sent by the Fund for the Arts leadership team to the Board of Directors for review and approval.
The review panel for the Sustaining Impact Grant includes the Fund for the Arts Community Investment & Support, Finance, and Equity Board Committees and representatives from United Arts Funds and Local Arts Agencies outside of the region. The panel is facilitated by the Fund for the Arts Community Investment & Support staff.
“The Sustaining Impact Grant is part of the Fund for the Arts’ annual investment plan and has been since the Fund was founded,” said Sarah Lindgren, VP, Community Investment & Support at Fund for the Arts. “As unrestricted operating grants, these funds support staff members, artists, programs, and facilities. With very few operating grants available, arts nonprofits need this type of support, and it is made possible by our community and thousands of donors who value the arts.”
This year’s SIG grantee organizations represent a wide variety of arts disciplines, including Dance, Folk & Traditional Arts, Literary Arts, Museums, Music, Opera, Presenting & Multidisciplinary, Theater, and Visual Arts.
“The Sustaining Impact Grant is at the core of what we do,” said Fund for the Arts President and CEO Andre Kimo Stone Guess. “These arts institutions have a massive impact on our community’s overall health and well-being, and they are a vital part of what makes this a vibrant place to live and work. The Sustaining Impact Grant is an investment from the full spectrum of Fund for the Arts donors, not only in the futures of these institutions, but in our entire arts ecosystem.”
Congratulations to the following Sustaining Impact Grant recipients:
| Organization Name | Grant Amount |
| Actors Theatre of Louisville | $209,965 |
| Amped | $72,399 |
| Arts Alliance of Southern Indiana | $11,932 |
| Bunbury Theatre Company | $4,229 |
| IDEAS xLab | $69,978 |
| Kentucky Opera | $109,331 |
| Kentucky Shakespeare | $113,956 |
| KMAC Contemporary Art Museum | $105,317 |
| Little Loomhouse | $11,696 |
| Looking for Lilith Theatre Company | $16,500 |
| Louisville Academy of Music | $53,986 |
| Louisville Ballet | $192,503 |
| Louisville Chorus | $2,404 |
| Louisville Folk School | $19,345 |
| The Louisville Leopards Percussionists, Inc. | $23,262 |
| Louisville Orchestra | $267,291 |
| Louisville Story Program | $37,800 |
| Louisville Visual Art | $72,528 |
| Louisville Youth Choir, Inc. | $8,115 |
| Louisville Youth Orchestra | $30,634 |
| Pandora Productions | $21,522 |
| Portland Museum | $28,174 |
| Queer Kentucky | $25,282 |
| Speed Art Museum | $240,860 |
| Squallis Puppeteers | $7,071 |
| StageOne Family Theatre | $97,770 |
| Young Authors Greenhouse Inc. | $21,150 |
About Fund for the Arts
Fund for the Arts is a regional nonprofit with the mission to contribute to the overall health and well-being of our community by generating resources for, investing in, and supporting our local arts, artists, and arts organizations. The Fund envisions a healthy and vibrant community where everyone embraces the art that exists in our lives every day, everyone contributes to the well-being of our arts community, and it is understood that everyone belongs to the arts community. The organization facilitates the largest arts grant program in Kentucky and it conducts one of the two oldest united arts campaigns in the country. For more information, visit www.fundforthearts.org
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