MACON, Ga. — Georgia Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff secured $900,000 to help theaters and nonprofit organizations across the state recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. One of those nonprofits is the Macon Arts Alliance.
The funding comes from the American Rescue Plan passed last March.
According to a survey from "Americans for the Arts," Georgia arts organizations saw more than $16 million worth of loss because of the pandemic, and that includes the Macon Arts Alliance.
Julie Wilkerson is the the Executive Director of Macon Arts Alliance.
"At the beginning of the pandemic, we closed for the month of April," Wilkerson said.
She says they did not have a curator for all of 2020.
"This position is very important. A lot of what she does is goes out and finds new artists, who's in the community that we want to showcase, that we want people to meet, 'Hey, this is someone really cool who's doing really cool stuff,'" Wilkerson said.
At the peak of the pandemic, Macon Arts Alliance had to cancel their biggest fundraiser, Fired Works. It's one of the largest exhibits of its kind in Georgia. It features 40-50 ceramic artists, and brings in about 1,500 people.
J.R. Olive, the project director, says that they want to, "Foster support to the arts, and the way that you do that is to bring people in and expose them to these sorts of work."
The Fired Works exhibit also brings in about $70,000 in art sales.
"When we say 'fundraiser,' we're selling other artists' work, and that's how they make a living," Olive said.
But the mission of the Arts Alliance extends beyond the artist and into the community.
"We've done a lot of work in east Macon. We're starting to do some work in the Bloomfield area. Creativity can be used to help keep kids out of trouble, to give them a positive self-image, to prevent violence," Wilkerson said, "Help children realize their inner creative self. I think any form of creativity is important and can help with your self-esteem."
The funding for the Macon Arts Alliance Gallery will go primarily towards the curator position and associated operating and marketing expenses for two years.
This month, the Arts Alliance is putting together a Black history showcase. Special gallery exhibits are open every first Friday and feature established and emerging artists who work in a variety of media.