CACHE Awards Second Round of Grants to 22 Local Nonprofits

Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange (CACHE) at the Northwest Arkansas Council awarded an additional $250,000 in grants to 22 local arts and culture nonprofits through its bridge fund program.

The program distributed $500,000 among 23 organizations in May 2020.

The second round of funding, supported through a grant from the Walton Family Foundation, provides support for organizations to develop long-term strategies around operations, infrastructure and creative production in response to the ongoing and dramatic changes within the arts and culture sector due to COVID-19.

“CACHE is proud to partner with many of the region’s resilient cultural organizations to reimagine the structures and systems they use to create and operate,” said Allyson Esposito, CACHE executive director.

50 organizations applied for funding and the following organizations were selected to receive funding through the program:

• Ability Tree

• Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese

• Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra

• Arkansas Soul Media

• The Art Experience

• Art Feeds

• Arts Live Theatre

• Art Ventures

• Artist’s Laboratory Theatre

• Canopy NWA

• The House of Songs

• Latin Art Organization of Arkansas

• Marshallese Educational Initiative

• Mount Sequoyah Center

• Museum of Native American History

• NWA Ballet Theatre

• Northwest Arkansas Jazz Society

• Open Mouth Literary Center

• PIXEL – A School for Media Arts

• Symphony of Northwest Arkansas

• Trike Theatre

“This grant means support for a number of wonderful things at Arkansas Soul, including a platform for Black artists, a resource for Black audiences and a home for BIPOC-centered content,” said Niketa Reed, director of Arkansas Soul. “The pandemic made it incredibly difficult for us to stay connected and build valuable relationships in marginalized regional communities. We’re grateful and eager to use this opportunity as a bridge to meet diverse audiences where they are, increase our reach to them and mark a path forward in amplifying Black voices.”