Nonprofit arts organizations throughout the state — including southeastern Connecticut entities  ranging from the Garde Arts Center and Hygienic Art in New London to Artreach in Norwich — have received state grants to help them during the pandemic.

All told, 154 groups received $9 million from the state’s COVID Relief Fund for the Arts.

Arts groups have been hit hard by the fallout from COVID-19, with many shuttered or limited to doing virtual performances and events.

Nancy Altshuler, who is the head of Goodspeed Musicals’ development department, said, “We’re very grateful for the state for recognizing that the performing arts, all over the country, but in Connecticut particularly, are so strong and so vibrant (but) have suffered terribly and will be suffering for a long time to come. So we’re very grateful to them for recognizing that and making it possible to give us some substantial assistance.”

Goodspeed Musicals, which is based in East Haddam, will receive $532,100 through the COVID Relief Fund for the Arts.

“It’s going to be incredibly helpful to us. Half a million dollars will take a bite out of the more than $2 million of losses in 2020,” Altshuler said.

The COVID Relief Fund for the Arts was established to support arts nonprofits — performing arts centers, schools of the arts, or performing groups — “for whom grants will make a difference in terms of survival or rehiring; and have had to curtail operations for a period of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and which have had limited ability to reopen due to pandemic restrictions or have had to pivot their service delivery due to pandemic restrictions,” according to Gov. New Lamont's announcement on Monday. 

The $9 million for the program came from federal CARES Act funding from the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.

As part of this, the state challenged performing arts organizations to raise money on their own, with the state offering a supplemental match of 50 percent of contributed income between March 10 and Nov. 1 of this year.

The Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, which performs at the Garde Arts Center, was awarded a $56,700 grant. Caleb Bailey, ECSO’s executive director, said that it’s really good news for ECSO but also for so many others performing arts groups who have also received a grant.

The money will help ECSO with the payroll for musicians, which tends to be the group’s largest expense, and with additional costs that will be necessary for any future, possibly videotaped performances. This fall, ECSO has had very small groups of musicians playing outdoors at venues, including the Hygienic and Olde Mistick Village.

If ECSO videos performances, it will mean increased expenses, including cleaning costs, videography crew and so on.

“It’s kind of funny, but we’re finding we might end up paying the same amount we normally would to have a 70-person orchestra on stage and we might only be able to get 15 musicians together,” Bailey said. “It’s going to cost the same, and the costs are in cleaning, possibly testing and technical costs, so it’s interesting. But we want to keep our product out there, we want to keep moving forward, so that’s what this money allows us to do.”

Flock Theatre, which is based in New London, received a $59,600 grant. Derron Wood, executive artistic director of Flock, said, “We are thrilled, and this is a lifesaver beyond belief. We are a very small company, but my main goal has been not to have to let anybody go, and this helps us continue to do it … This is an amazing gift.”

Flock did a weekend of performances in Wilcox Park in Westerly this summer and has been producing a number of Zoom productions of plays it otherwise would have been staging live this year.

As with all arts organizations, Wood said, “We’re all doing whatever we can to survive and muddle through, and this (grant) is like a Hail Mary pass.”

Each organization had to submit to the state financial information from this year and last year — in other words, post-COVID and pre-COVID. That meant expenses and contributed revenue starting in March of 2020 through November 2020, with projections through the end of this year; and comparing that to the same period in 2019.

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford received $376,200. Executive Director Tiffani Gavin said in a statement: “During this unprecedented health crisis, the O’Neill appreciates Governor Lamont's recognition of the vital role non-profit theaters play in the state’s job, tourism, and arts sectors. We are also deeply grateful to him and to the CT Office of the Arts for the creation of the COVID Relief Fund for the Arts and their quick response at this critical time of the year. These relief funds help stem some of the losses we've endured this year and provide greater stability to our deeply-impacted staff, artists, and nationally-recognized programs. Today's news is an important step toward ensuring that the O'Neill can remain a vital part of the state's cultural landscape."

The COVID Relief Fund for the Arts is administered by the Connecticut Office of the Arts within the Department of Economic and Community Development.

The list of nonprofit arts organizations in southeastern Connecticut who received grants follows:

Artreach, Norwich, $9,400

Eastern Connecticut Ballet, East Lyme, $21,600

Eastern Connecticut Symphony, New London, $56,700

Flock Theatre, New London, $59,600

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Waterford, $376,200

Garde Arts Center, New London, $182,800

Goodspeed Opera House Foundation, East Haddam, $532,100

Hygienic Art, New London, $13,700

Ivoryton Playhouse, Ivoryton, $125,900

Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Old Saybrook, $111,300

Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, $23,200

Maurice C. La Grua Center, Stonington, $38,000

Mystic Ballet, Stonington, $48,000

Thames Valley Music School, New London, $11,200

Writer's Block Ink, New London, $11,100