On Wednesday, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving announced its commitment of $6 million to invest in arts and culture in Connecticut.
The financial commitment includes $4 million to 48 local arts and culture organizations, $1 million to the Artist of Color Accelerate program, $460,000 to launch the Greater Hartford Creatives Alliance and $400,000 for a partnership with CT Humanities.
“Today specifically is about an investment and appreciation for arts and cultural institutions,” said Hartford Foundation President and CEO Jay Williams. “They add to the quality of life, the richness that it brings to our communities. Arts are an economic driver.”
Each organization will receive a one-time grant ranging from $5,000 to $300,000. The organizations come from 13 towns and cities including Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, and Glastonbury.
“All I can see is growth,” said ActUp Theater Founder and CEO Faithlyn Johnson. “I see support. I see that we’re seeing that we’re putting in a lot of hard work and we’re being valued.”
Johnson’s community theater organizations received a grant for $25,000.
“One of our dreams is that we want to have our own building based right here in Hartford, Connecticut,” said chief operating officer Priestley Johnson.
The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford was also picked as a recipient of the grant. The nonprofit will receive $200,000, which executive director Jeffrey Nichols says he’s thrilled about.
“The plan would be to obviously, hopefully invest into the historic site, into the museum itself. So that we can continue to maintain it,” he said.
Nichols says 50,000 people come through the museum each year and this money will help ensure that they can handle the crowd.