Justine Villanueva performs in “Gynecologos” on March 18 at the Davis Branch Library. Other Davis Repertory Theatre performers shown are Jasmine Washington, left, Lolita Echeverria-Greco and Annie Velez. The theatre company was one of many arts organizations and artists receiving American Rescue Plan grant funds. (Hanna Nakano/Courtesy photo)
By Wendy Weitzel
Davis artists and nonprofit arts organizations benefited from more than half a million in American Rescue Plan funds distributed in recent months.
The largest amount – $500,000 – went to stabilize the city’s nonprofit arts and culture sector, which saw substantial economic impacts during the pandemic. The Yolo Community Foundation administered and selected those 20 winners, with organizations receiving between $5,000 and $45,000 each. In addition, the city chose 50 individual Davis-based arts and culture applicants to receive grants of $1,000 each.
Rachel Hartsough, the city’s Arts and Culture manager, said, “We can’t overstate how important this support is to the work of local artists. Their collective efforts improve our quality of life in so many ways. The arts and culture sector strengthens our local economy, provides an important tool for gathering in times of celebration and mourning, creates individual and civic pride, builds community within neighborhoods, attracts out-of-town visitors, amplifies the voices and faces of marginalized members of our community, and supports initiatives that promote health and wellness. And, of course, the arts bring joy and beauty into our lives.”
That echoes an October 2021 op-ed printed in The Davis Enterprise, written by Autumn Labbé-Renault, then-Arts Alliance Davis chair, who is executive director of Davis Media Access. Signed by 22 members of the Alliance, it argued that arts and culture were essential to local economic vitality yet were often overlooked in pandemic relief funding. Besides providing jobs, local events boost the coffers of hotels, restaurants, bars, shops and cities, it said.
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