Arts groups to get federal assistance amid virus outbreak

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Arts organizations in Rhode Island will share in more than $840,000 in federal relief funding intended to help them weather the coronavirus pandemic.

Local arts and humanities groups have been hit hard as the outbreak has shuttered performances and art shows and forced some groups to consider layoffs or budget cuts.

Museums, libraries, historical societies, theatres and other non-profit cultural organizations can apply for the money, according to the Rhode Island Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, which will administer the grants.

A more than $2 trillion stimulus package recently approved by Congress includes $150 million for cultural organizations around the country.

“Here in Rhode Island, the livelihood of a sector that contributes over $1 billion annually to our economy is being threatened,” said Randall Rosenbaum, executive director of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.

There are now more than 6,200 cases of COVID-19 reported in the state after over 400 new cases were added Thursday. It’s the largest single-day increase in reported cases Rhode Island has seen in the pandemic.

Eight new deaths from the coronavirus were reported Thursday, bringing the state’s death toll to 189.

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with underlying health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.