Eleven Arizona arts-and-culture organizations have been awarded a combined $870,000 from the Flinn Foundation to assist in their continuing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The grants approved by the Flinn Foundation Board of Directors range between $60,000 and $125,000.
The organizations encompass the state of Arizona from Flagstaff to the Phoenix area and south to Tucson. They include live performing-arts organizations, and both indoor and outdoor museums, gardens, and zoos.
The Arizona arts organizations awarded a Flinn Foundation 2021 COVID-19 recovery grant include:
● Arizona Opera (Phoenix and Tucson)
● Arizona Science Center (Phoenix)
● Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Tucson)
● Ballet Arizona (Phoenix)
● Children’s Museum of Phoenix (Phoenix)
● Childsplay (Tempe)
● Desert Botanical Garden (Phoenix)
● Heard Museum (Phoenix)
● Museum of Northern Arizona (Flagstaff)
● Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix)
● Phoenix Zoo (Phoenix)
The grants also include technical assistance from TDC, a nonprofit-management consulting firm nationally recognized for helping arts-and-culture organizations strengthen their financial capitalization.
“The Flinn Foundation is proud to support these organizations’ creative strategies to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and assist them as they respond to audiences’ changing preferences and a rapidly diversifying public,” Flinn Foundation President and CEO Tammy McLeod said.
Earlier this year, 10 small Arizona arts groups were awarded a combined $40,000 by the Flinn Foundation in partnership with the Arizona Commission on the Arts to support rural and diverse art galleries, festivals, dance classes, museums, and workshops.
Flinn Foundation Arts and Culture Program
The Flinn Foundation primarily supports arts and culture in Arizona through the Initiative for Financial and Creative Health, which supplies funding and technical assistance to many of Arizona’s largest arts-and-culture organizations.
The foundation started its formal programming to fund the arts in 1984. Dr. Robert and Irene Flinn, who established the Flinn Foundation in 1965, were strong supporters of the arts and recognized their importance in improving the quality of life for Arizona residents. In addition to funding the arts, the Flinn Foundation supports the advancement of the biosciences in Arizona, the merit-based Flinn Scholarship, and the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership.