Five Warwick organizations have been named recipients of awards from the RI Culture, Humanities and Arts Recovery Grant (RI CHARG) program, a historic collaborative partnership between the State Council on the Arts (RISCA) and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (Humanities Council).

The Warwick Symphony Orchestra, Clouds Hill Victorian House Museum, Puerto Rican Institute for Arts & Advocacy, Warwick Center for the Arts, and Music on the Hill received general operating support grants of $8,000 each, which are federally appropriated cultural assistance funds administered by RISCA and the Humanities Council.

“I am delighted that RI CHARG funds are directly benefiting multiple Warwick area organizations,” said Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi. “Warwick’s arts, culture and humanities institutions help give our city its unique character, and they also are an important part of our local economy: when visitors come to a performance or exhibit, they are likely to dine in local restaurants and shop at local merchants. Additionally, Warwick’s tourism industry is a significant source of revenue for our city. Having a host of arts and cultural activities for visitors to enjoy makes our city even more attractive as a destination.”

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awarded $968,000 in assistance to Rhode Island from their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and is not part of the $1.1 billion in ARPA funding awarded to the state.

A total of 121 culture, humanities, and arts nonprofits throughout the state received grants; of the grants awarded, 95% are small to midsize and/or Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) centered organizations, and more than 25% are first-time grantees.

The Councils designed the RI CHARG program to help the state’s culture, humanities, and arts nonprofits prevent, prepare, respond, and recover from hardships suffered due to the pandemic. In keeping with federal agencies’ priority on equity, inclusion, and access efforts and to support small- and mid-sized organizations, funding priorities were given to BIPOC-centered organizations and nonprofits with annual budgets under $500,000.