Jackson Arts Council awards largest amount ever, $150,000, in arts grants

Angele Latham, Jackson Sun
·2 min read
Members of The Ned receive grant funding from the Jackson Arts Council.
Members of The Ned receive grant funding from the Jackson Arts Council.

The Jackson Arts Council hosted an awards reception last week, celebrating 12 local subrecipients of the $150,000 National Endowment for the Arts’ American Rescue Plan funding.

The funding, which marks the largest grant amount ever distributed by the Jackson Arts Council, will help the 16 subrecipients expand their artistic impact in the area and help with recovery efforts from COVID-19.

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“With these funds, in addition to our regular Jackson Arts Council grants, we're estimating that they're going to reach well over 137,000 individuals in our entire region,” said Lizzie Emmons, executive director of the JAC. “We’re really excited about the amount of funding that we're going to be able to push out—this year, it's going to impact just a ton of people in our region.”

Recipients such as Ballet Arts Inc., Arts in McNairy and the International Food and Arts Festival joyfully received their funding in the hallways of The Ned Thursday evening, as city officials and local arts supporters watched in support.

Lizzie Emmons, executive director of the Jackson Arts Council, speaks with reporters at The Ned.
Lizzie Emmons, executive director of the Jackson Arts Council, speaks with reporters at The Ned.

“This is going to have a massive impact on the art community,” said Emmons. “We're going from regularly impacting about 40,000 people to impacting nearly 140,000 people. So the impact of this trip will be felt throughout our region.

“It's so important that we fund the arts now more than ever, after COVID-19—after not being able to be in-person, see performances, and with so many artists out of work. It's so important that we all gather together to support our community.”

The funding comes as the newly-formed Jackson Arts District is beginning to take shape.

Now, with even more local artists supported, Emmons is excited to see the fruit of their labor expand past Jackson’s borders.

“The arts district is really just encouraging the continued creation of art within a certain space in the city of Jackson,” she said. “These funds impact our entire region. So really, these are going beyond just that specific space where the arts district is, along with the number of things that are going to happen within the district. So it really is encouraging that continued creation of art [will occur] within this space of Jackson and onward.”

Winners include:

  • Jackson Symphony Association

  • The Ned

  • Ballet Arts Inc. of Jackson

  • Arts in McNairy

  • International Food and Arts Festival

  • City of Parsons

  • Our Jackson Home

  • Jackson Theatre Guild, Inc.

  • Jackson Madison County Library

Individual artists subrecipients include:

  • Samantha Wood – Jackson, Tennessee

  • Lee Benson – Jackson, Tennessee

  • Hugh Pugh – Parsons, Tennessee

Have a story to tell? Reach Angele Latham by email at alatham@gannett.com, by phone at 731-343-5212, or follow her on Twitter at @angele_latham. 

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Jackson Arts Council awards $150,000 in local arts grants