The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County’s award cycle for the 2022-2023 year showed a 17 percent increase in Cultural Organization REsource Grant and Project Support Grant funds to Cumberland County organizations. 

The Arts Council awarded $759,930 to 21 non-profit organizations for cultural arts programming. 

“Increasing support to organizations impacting our community with engaging cultural arts programs is vital to the mission of the Arts Council, especially as we edge closer towards a ‘post-COVID’ era,” said Michael Curtis Houck, director of grants and allocations for the Arts Council in the press release. “The arts are a proven economic force in Cumberland County, and it’s exciting to see new programs emerge this year and to see other programs that have been dormant for two years spring back to life.”

Funding for C.O.RE. Grants and Project Support Grants is produced by the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, and the Cumberland County Occupancy Tax. This year, Project Support Grants are also supported through federal funds by the American Rescue Plan Act Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The 2022-2023 Cultural Organization REsource Grant recipients include:

• Cape Fear Botanical Garden
• Cape Fear Regional Theatre
• Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra 

Project Support Grant recipients:

• Airborne and Special Operations Museum Foundation
• Cape Fear Studios
• Cape Fear Valley Medical Foundation 
• Community Concerts of Fayetteville 
• Cool Spring Downtown District 
• Crossroads Outreach Alternative Program Ministries 
• Cultural and Heritage Alliance 
• Cumberland Choral Arts
• Cumberland County Public Library
• Ellington-White Community Development Corporation
• Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation
• Gilbert Theater
• Groundswell Pictures
• Longleaf Press
• Methodist University: Friends of Music
• The Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex
• Sweet Tea Shakespeare 
• The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival

“Based on the strength of our programs and to support our goal of reaching out to assist previously underserved populations, the Arts Council was one of only sixty-six organizations nationwide to receive additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts,” said Bob Pinson, interim president and CEO of the Arts Council in the press release. “I believe we are reaching this goal through our grant programs.”