CINCINNATI — Mayor John Cranley said he hopes to use some of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to bring the BLINK Festival back to Cincinnati in 2022.
The ARP gave more than $290 million to the city, and city officials called for $1 million to be used to bring BLINK back next year. They also called for $1 million to be given to museums to help keep them open and for some of the funds to go toward other things in the arts community, like helping to build the Clifton Cultural Arts Center.
"Our art organizations is what make living in a city so great, and so getting them through this COVID winter they’ve been struggling without any performances for a year," Cranley said. "Hopefully, by summer and fall, they’ll be able to have performances again..."
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, ArtsWave accelerated $2.4 million in grant payments for 43 organizations, and they amassed $13+ million for the arts in Cincinnati last year.
The city is proposing $1 million for museums to help them stay open; funding to help build the Clifton Cultural Arts Center; $1 million to bring BLINK back in 2022 and much more. @WCPO
— Mariel Carbone (@MarielCarbone) March 24, 2021
Performing Arts Support Grants: $6,000,000
— John Cranley (@JohnCranley) March 24, 2021
Outdoor public art spaces to stage outdoor performances: $1,000,000
ArtWorks Youth Employment Initiative: $1,000,000
BLM Mural: $250,000
Blink 2022: $1,000,000
Clifton Cultural Arts Center (CCAC): $500,000
Aid to museums: $1,000,000
