City of Cleveland

Commit 2% of the $500 million+ Cleveland is receiving in federal ARPA funds to Arts & Culture!

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the creative sector hard. An ARPA investment of $10 million helps protect and brings jobs to EVERY neighborhood.  We are creative businesses. We are cultural nonprofits. We are individual artists and so much more. We remain anchors for neighborhoods all over the city. ARPA funds will protect one of our greatest assets that is central to Cleveland’s economy and identity. A massive THANK YOU to all for participating in the Artists for ARPA campaign over the past weeks!

We’re making progress

Recently, Mayor Bibb included a recommendation in his transition report to allocate $10 million to arts and culture. This is an exciting step, but we must help Cleveland City Council understand why their vote in favor of this recommendation is a smart choice. Your voice matters.

In 2019, the City of Cleveland had 15,849 jobs by creative industries alone and generated $2.9b in sales within our local economy. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated our community – taking away the ability of many artists, arts organizations, and creative businesses to survive. The unprecedented financial damage rose to $146 million and impacted 5,000 jobs in Cleveland-area cultural nonprofits alone.

This sector’s recovery is essential to the recovery of Cleveland as a whole. Every day, our sector makes positive differences in:

• Education
• Public Safety
• Health Care
• Mental Health
• Community Revitalization
• Regional Tourism
• Retail + Hospitality
• Resident Well-being

As people around the globe start to recover from the pandemic, local creatives in your neighborhood are still struggling, but we have a plan.